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THE 



APPY lOME 



HEALTH GUIDE 



^ 



B. (^MORGAN, M. D. 




d. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

EMMERT PROPRIETARY CO. 

CHICAGO, ILL. 



\ 



,W°c v 



COPYRIGHT Br 

EMMERT PROPRIETARY CO. 

18S7. 



TO THE 

MOTHERS OF AMERICA, 

FAMILY PHYSICIANS 

OF nature's own making, this little volume is 

BESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY 



THE ATTTHOE. 



PREFACE. 



" Of making books there is no end," exclaimed the Wise Man 
nearly a thousand years before our era, and yet the work of making 
books has been so diligently pursued that throughout the world print- 
ing presses are running day and night, turning into print the written 
thoughts of a multitude of teeming brains. 

In the light of Solomon's declaration, that " there is nothing new 
under the sun," it excites wonder as to what authors can find to say 
that has not been said over and over again. 

A new book, to merit favorable notice in our day, must serve some 
practical purpose, either to amuse, to instruct, or to console. 

What, then, is the purpose of the author in presenting this book 
as a claimant of your favor? Dr. Johnson said: "Mankind needs 
not so much to learn what is new, as to be reminded of what is already 
known." 

Therein lies one reason, and because the prevention of disease is 
of more benefit to the race than merely helping those who have broken 
Nature's Laws to escape her penalties; again, it makes no difference 
how well written, how thorough and exhaustive any book may be, 
medicine, and especially the art of preventing sickness, is a progressive 
science. Important discoveries are constantly being made; new expe- 
rience changes the old practice; certainty, little by little, is taking the 
place of theory, so that a book which at one time may be justly re- 
garded as good authority, in a few years is out of date. It was the 
design of the writer to present in plain language, that any one may 
understand, those facts one needs to know to preserve the health, to 
escape avoidable causes of disease, and to fully develop the physical 
powers. Considerable attention has been given to the needs of infancy 
and childhood, because there is too little effort put forth to protect the 
young from hereditary tendencies and to overcome natural weaknesses, 
through special care in diet, ventilation, and other hygienic measures. 
A very complete chapter on " Accidents and Emergencies." carefully 



arranged for ready reference, it is hoped will prove helpful in the ordi- 
nary accidents that are liable to occur everywhere. 

The subjects treated of are described according to the latest dis- 
coveries, and best authorities, supplemented by personal experience. 

The science of Medicine can be mastered only by those who de- 
vote a lifetime to it. It is built upon the accumulated experience of 
ages, collected and preserved by members of the profession. The 
public are prone to forget that all knowledge of physiology; all that is 
known of chemistry, that art which has given rise to some of the most 
important manufacturing industries of the world; all sanitary knowl- 
edge, which in many localities has transformed the face of nature in 
the interests of health, originated with the medical profession. It is 
to the quiet, observant plodders, who learned the needs of humanity 
at the bedside of the sick and suffering, and, although worn and ex- 
hausted by incessant demands upon their strength and skill, took time 
to note down their observations for the benefit of those who came after 
them, that we are indebted for medical science. In this way the expe- 
rience of one generation has overlapped the next, and gradually the 
science of medicine has grown into an edifice of such dimensions that 
no man expects to compass the whole of it within the limits of a life- 
time. There are many aspiring to the title of Doctor who are mere 
parasites upon the profession, and this class has brought disrepute 
upon it, so that it has become the fashion to scoff at doctors and to 
ignore the noble work they have accomplished. To write a single 
book upon medicine and claim that it contains all of value there is 
known, is clearly impertinent, and stamps the writer as an ignoramus. 
The pages that follow are not a complete epitome of the whole science; 
they contain but the A, B, C of physiology and medicine; the knowl- 
edge every intelligent man and woman should possess in order to ward 
off disease; to manage simple ailments which do not require a physi- 
cian; to meet the emergencies that are liable to arise in every family; 
and to recognize the need of a physician in cases demanding skillful 
treatment from the outset. A little knowledge well digested is of 
more value than a whole encyclopedia of information that leaves one 
in doubt, after all, what to do. This book, then, is designed as a 
guide, and does not claim to be a complete medical adviser, to the ex- 
clusion of the Family Physician, who, after all, is a friend that cannot, 
and ought not to be, dispensed with. 

B. C. M. 
3838 Dearborn street, Chicago. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Man created to live a century — Average life less than half — Large pro- 
portion of deaths from preventable causes — Man deteriorated since Creation — 
Death-rate in man higher than among animals — Babies ought to have a money 
value — Deaths represent small per cent, of the sick — Health knowledge easily 
obtained — Seven conditions of good health — Perfect health essential to a " Happy 
Home" — Mothers the natural physicians for the family — "Women's responsibility. 
Pages.... 1-2 

CHAPTER I. 

THE FRAME-WORK OF THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

Number of bones in the body — Structure of bones — Wonderful combination 
of strength with lightness— Three kingdoms — Minerals in bone — Gelatine the 
base — "Green stick" fracture — Bones flexible in youth, brittle in old age — 
Serious accidents — The skeleton — Bow-legs — Joints — Fibrous capsule and its 
password — Contortionists — "Joint water" — Exercise after an injury necessary — 
A common accident — Hip- joint the strongest of all — Disease of hip- joint — Knee- 
joint — Sprains and their consequences — "White swelling — The skull and its con- 
tents — Reason why it is not made of one piece of bone — Idiots do not " fall out of 
bed' — Water on the brain — No danger in washing the head— Peculiarities of the 
jaw-bones — Treatment of dislocated jaw — The spine — How it becomes unnatu- 
rally curved — Long walks temporarily lessen height — Round shoulders — Danger- 
ous to lift a child by the head — Anecdote of Wesley — Broken neck and recovery 
— Broken neck and death after several days — The mechanism of the ribs — Fract- 
ure or the ribs — Treatment — Shoulder-blade — collar-bone — Why women can not 
throw stones like men — Piano practice makes large joints — management of 
broken bones — Important ingredients of bone — To supply bone-forming material 
— The food which contains every element of the body. — Pages. 3-17 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER II. 
the teeth: their development, causes of decay, and preservation. 

Connection of teeth with jaw-bone — Broken jaw from extraction of tooth — 
Milk teeth — Description of a tooth — Nerves of a tooth— Sixth year molar— Care 
of the teeth — Toilet soap unfit to use in the mouth — A pure tooth soap — Effect of 
medicines on the teeth — Acids destroy enamel — Decayed teeth may poison the 
blood — Milk teeth should be preserved from decay — Scarring of face from 
diseased teeth— Irregular teeth may be straightened — Gum boils caused by abscess 
of a root — Eye and ear disease due to decayed teeth— Remarkable results from 
diseased roots — List of nervous disorders originating in imperfect teeth — Fracture 
of enamel followed by decay — Gritty tooth paste destroys the teeth — Lack of clean- 
liness makes them unsound — Neuralgia of face mistaken for toothache — Tartar 
— Toothache — Prescriptions for toothache — Inflamed gums — Spongy and ulcer- 
ated gums— Mouth-wash for foul breath and diseased gums — Tooth-powder — To 
stop bleeding after extracting teeth — Packing the socket. — Pages 18-29 

CHAPTER III. 

THE OUTER WALLS OF OUR HOUSE — THE MUSCLES — THE SKIN AND ITS CARE- 
CLOTHING. 

Cellular tissue — A trick of the butchers — The cunning oriental and the lean 
camel— Exercise toughens muscle — Effect on runners — Weak muscles easily 
strained — Ambitious women liable to injury — Spine held erect by muscles — 
Shoes with uneven heels injure the spine — Shoulder braces a poor device — True 
method of straightening bowed shoulders — Pressure on muscles prevents growth 
— Inaction makes them soft and weak — Change of occupation desirable— Over- 
exercise weakens — Writer's cramp — Light necessary to health — The skin and its 
structure— The scaly coat is being constantly shed— A blister— Color of the skin 
— Section of skin highly magnified— Evidences of a Creator visible in con- 
struction of the human body — The way the sweat is thrown off — 28 miles of 
sweat glands— The perspiration a deadly poison— The gilded boy*of Rome— Bac- 
teria abound on the skin of uncleanly people — Water alone will not cleanse the 

skin Milk baths for severe illness — Checking the perspiration has a different 

effect on different people — Perspiration regulates temperature — Enormous heat 
endured by a German sculptor —The bath— A daily bath not always beneficial- 
Injurious bathing — Irritation of skin sometimes due to soap— The hair needs to 
be frequently washed — Infants and their baths— Clothing in relation to health — 
It must be adapted to the season— Material and color important— Method of 
avoiding "a cold "—Sufferings of school children— Teachers should look after 
their comfort in the school room.— Pages 30-45 



CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE SERVANTS OP THE BODY. 

What is an organ? — The cavities of the body — The dividing wall — The 
action of the diaphragm — The larynx — The trachea — " Swallowing the wrong 
way" — Choking — To dislodge an object from the windpipe — A case illustrating 
the folly of giving infants small objects to play with — Danger of giving liquids 
to a child lying on its back — The bronchial tubes and branches — Air cells 
resemble tiny soap bubbles — Lungs differ in weight — Pleurisy an inflammation 
of sac inclosing a lung — Location of the heart— Dropsy of the heart— The con- 
dition of the heart in " a blue child " — Effective device of old nurses — Arteries 
carry bright, red blood — Veins contain dark blood — The circulation of the blood 
— Ancients believed veins contained air — " Pipe-stem " blood vessels in the aged 
— Gangrene — Aneurism — Veins carry the blood " up hill " — Point for pressure 
to stop bleeding when a blood vessel is severed — Cause of piles— Treatment of 
piles — Pile ointment— Pile suppositories — How blood passes from arteries to the 
veins — Blood disks as evidence in murder trials — " Blood is thicker than water " 
— Temperature of the blood always the same— Blushing and fainting — Heredi- 
tary disease not so common as supposed — Imagination responsible for some cases 
believed to be hereditary. — Pages 46-61 

CHAPTER V. 

THE EAR — LOSS OF HEARING — TREATMENT OF EAR DISEASES. 

Ear consists of three parts — Hats and bonnets that flatten the ears, injure the 
hearing — Can water be poured into one ear and out of the other? — A discharging 
ear a menace to life — "Ways in which the ear drum may be destroyed — Use of 
the drum of the ear — Very neat people more liable to ear disease than others — 
Unsafe to place cotton in the ear — The ear not made for a medicine chest— The 
Eustachian tube — Internal ear out of reach of meddlers — Diseases which affect 
the internal ear — Overdose of quinine a cause of deafness— Stupid children 
should have their ears examined — A case of partial deafness in which a bright 
child was regarded as hopelessly stupid — Three points regarding deafness to be 
noted — Avoidable causes of deafness — Insects in the ear — Removing hard objects 
from the ear — Earache and its treatment — Care of discharging ears — Enlarged 
tonsils cause defective hearing. — Pages 62-68 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE EYES — DEFECTIVE SIGHT — SELECTION OF SPECTACLES. 

Alarming increase of blindness — Injurious home treatment of diseased eyes — 
Skilled advice more necessary for children than for adults — Incurable chronic 



Vlll CONTEXTS. 

complaints nearly always date from childhood — Cause of cross-eyes — Form of 
the eyeball— Photographing the retina of a murdered person to discover the 
murderer — The iris regulates the light admitted to the eye — Eye-brows and eye- 
lashes keep out dust — Tear glands supply fluid for washing out dirt — " Weeping 
eye " — Diagram of the eye — A photographer's camera constructed from the eye 
as a model — Effect of old age on the eyeball — Avoidable causes of defective 
sight — Eyesight destroyed by light flashed from a burning glass — Teachers 
ought to guard pupils from avoidable injury of eyes — Heat of lamp produces 
congestion — Accidents to the eyes— Treatment of eye knocked out of its 
socket — Danger from poulticing the eye — "Warning to children in regard to 
games dangerous to the eyes — Burns on the eye-lids — Gunpowder injuries — Lime 
in the eyes — Injuries from powerful acids like aqua fortis — Care of eyes in 
infancy and childhood— Purulent ophthalmia — Method of cleansing the eye in 
ophthalmia — Selection of spectacles — Age at which spectacles are needed — Effect 
of wearing glasses unsuited to the eyes — Some natural defects of the eyes — Head- 
ache produced by defective eyes. — Pages 69-85 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 

Diseased body affects the mind — Alcohol hardens the brain cells — Weight of 
human brain — Woman's brain weighs less than man's — Brain increases until 
decline of life begins— Over-study injures children's brains — Indications of over- 
study — Nerves compared with telegraph cable — Two distinct sets of nerves — We 
have a double brain — Paralysis of arm from pressure of the head upon it during 
sleep — Pain a nerve cry — Opium-eater in bondage — Opinion of a celebrated 
French physician regarding narcotics — Side view of the cavities of the body — 
More caution needed in giving opiates. — Pages 86-91 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE ORGANS OF LOCOMOTION. 

The feet and their covering— Shoes ought to be " rights and lefts " — Effect of 
too short shoes — Narrow soles and high heels distort the feet — Qualities essential 
to a perfect fitting foot covering— Corns and bunions — Treatment of corns — Soft 
corns — Inflamed corns— Inflamed bunions — Ingrowing nails — Chilblains— Effect 
on health of cold and damp feet — Deodorizing rubber boots— Foetid feet — Lo- 
tion for their cure.— Pages 92-98 

CHAPTER IX. 

BUILDING AND REPAIRING — DIGESTION, AND THE INFLUENCES WHICH MODIFY IT. 

Digestion defined — Importance of chewing the food — Method of conveying 
the food to the stomach— The stomach, its resemblance to a bagpipe — The 



CONTENTS. IX 

digestive organs — Amount of gastric juice— Substitute for gastric juice — Effect of 
ice and liquor on digestion — Length of time to digest food — Effect of bile on 
digestion — Vermicular motion of intestines— Hunger — Mixed diet for children — 
Highly seasoned food— Too great a variety at once not desirable — Number of 
meals a day— Food needs to be taken at regular intervals — Amount of food re- 
quired — The stomach must have exercise — Tight corsets hinder digestion — 
Fatigue delays digestion — Eating at bed-time — It is unhealthy to eat very hot or 
very cold food — Pure air necessary to digestion — The skin exerts an influence on 
digestion — To restore a starving person — The wastes must be evacuated every 
day — Children should be taught to attend promptly to " calls of Nature. " — 
Pages 99-112 

CHAPTER X. 

WHAT SHALL WE EAT? — ELEMENTS FURNISHED BY POOD. 

Relation of daily food to success or failure in life — Importance of intelligent 
selection — Knowledge of housekeeping woman's highest accomplishment — The 
taste — A right and a wrong way to prepare food — Importance of well-selected 
diet — Man designed to live upon mixed diet — Gases found in food — Important 
food elements— Flesh-formers and body-warmers — Phosphorus the universal 
regulator — Economy in diet — Tea-topers — Deficient diet, its effect on broken 
bones — Suitable food favors sobriety— Diet table — Food elements needed by 
working-men — Table of daily losses — Force generated by food eaten — Relation of 
diet to season — Natural tendencies modified by diet — The system needs water — 
Thirst — Cold drink for hot weather — The example of Namaan. — Pages.. 11 3-1 36 

CHAPTER XI. 

DISPOSAL OF THE WASTES — WHAT MAKES THE BLOOD IMPUBE. 

Disposal of body wastes — Cause, of impure blood — Organs of the body in 
natural position — Vicarious action of the excretory organs — Effect of long-con- 
tinued vicarious work — Method of purifying the blood. — Pages 137-141 

CHAPTER XII. 

MICROSCOPIC GERMS: THEIR RELATION TO HEALTH AND LIFE. 

Simplest form of germs— Difficult to distinguish animal from vegetable- 
Yeast plant— Interesting experiment— Germs necessary to life— Heat destroys 
all germs — Splenic fever in cattle a germ disease — Agencies which develop 
"filth disease." — Pages 143-145 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

DISINFECTANTS — ANTISEPTICS — DEODORIZERS. 

What is dirt? — Difference between disinfectants, antiseptics and deodorizers 
— Experiment to prove it — Disagreeable smells are warnings — Germs difficult tO' 
destroy — Long exposure to disinfectant necessary — Stuffed furniture and carpets 
retain contagion — Danger lurking in the cellar — Poisonous vapors pass through 
the soil for a considerable distance — Diseases kept up by foul air from the cellar 
— To light a sick-room without vitiating the air.— Pages 146-151 

CHAPTER XIV. 

OUR NATIVE ELEMENT, FRESH AIR — VENTILATION. 

Ventilation fails to keep pace with civilization — Window ventilation — Cause 
of the terrible epidemic known as the " black death " — Some ways in which air 
is made unfit to breathe— A closed wood stove, a charcoal burner — Red-hot 
stoves dangerous— Accidents from coal gas — House-gas explosive: an example 
— Grates wasteful of heat — Pure air only should be admitted for ventilation — 
Dangers in public assemblies — A forcible example of consequences arising from 
defective ventilation — Breathing impure air a cause of scrofula — Injurious 
domestic practices — Education that does not educate. — Pages.. ...152-160 

CHAPTER XV. 

DRINKING WATER AND DRAINAGE. 

Supply of drinking water provided by the ancients — Artesian wells — Sur- 
face wells— Ground around wells must be clean — Freezing does not kill disease 
germs — Why ague appears where previously unknown — Sudden outbreaks of 
sickness often due to water pollution— Tests for detecting sources of pollution 
— Effect of drainage on public health — Precaution against cholera — Experience 
of New Orleans— Filters — Health Aphorisms.— Pages 161-169 

CHAPTER XVI. 

DISEASE AND ITS TREATMENT, INCLUDING PREVENTIVE, HYGIENIC AND MEDICI- 
NAL MEASURES. 

What is disease? — Fevers — Simple continued fever — A cold — Catarrhal fe- 
ver — A vapor bath — Influenza — Typhoid fever— Intermittent fever — Fever and 
ague — Malaria— Congestive chills — Remittent fever — Bilious fever — Scarlet 
fever — Measles — Rotheln — Small-pox — Chicken-pox — Erysipelas — Diphtheria 



— Bronchitis — Pleurisy— Pneumonia — Asthma —Whooping cough — Chronic 
catarrh — Consumption —Mumps —Quinsy— Dyspepsia— Diarrhoea — Dysentery 
—Cholera morbus — Cholera infantum— Cholera— Colic— Constipation —Worms 
—Diseases of the liver— Side-ache— Gall-stones— Jaundice— Bright's disease — 
Diabetes— Headaches— Apoplexy— Paralysis — Convulsions— Epilepsy — Neural- 
gia—Rheumatism—Heart disease— Dropsy— Scrofula— King's evil —Rickets — 
Hip disease— Teething — Diseases of the skin— Itch— Lice— Hives— Ringworm 
—Scald-head — Boils— Carbuncle— Felon — Bed-sores— Stye— Ulcers— Cancer. — 
Pages - — 170-269 

CHAPTER XVII. 
nurses: their duties and their responsibilities. 
Care of the sick — Doctor's directions must be followed — " Don'ts " for the 
nurse — Delirious patients — Selection and preparation of sick-room— Foods 
for the sick — Regularity in serving meals important — Method of feeding a feeble 
patient — The best beverage for the sick — To keep ice in the sick-room — Ventila- 
tion of sick-room — Health of nurse needs care — Watchers — Care for the hair of 
invalids — The nails — To lift a helpless patient — Cushions for the sick — Prepara- 
tion of bandages — Nurse must not reveal family secrets — Subjects not to be- 
mentioned to the sick. — Pages _... 270-286- 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
First thing to be done in presence of an accident — To stop bleeding by pres- 
sure — Moving the patient — What to do while waiting for the doctor — Flesh 
wounds — Scalp wounds — Dressing wounds — Unhealthy wounds — What to do ■ 
when the clothing is on fire — To dress a burn — Coal-oil and gasoline explosions 
— Freezing — Sunstroke — Bruises — Swallowing glass — Choking — Foreign objects 
in the nose — Bites and stings — Mad dog bites — Broken bones — Restoration of the 
drowning — Artificial respiration — After-treatment — Hanging — Accidents from > 
poison — Classification of poisons — Special directions for treating those suffering 
from poison — Some obscure sources of poisoning — Copper and brass utensils, 
dangerous — Poisoning from carelessness. — Pages 287-318 



APPENDIX. 

Prevention and control of disease — Illinois State Board of Health prevent- 
able disease circular — Selection of sick-room for contagious diseases — Method of 
preventing infection — Number of attendants — Miscellaneous instruction to the 
public — Care after recovery — Duties of the health officer — Disposal of the dead — 
Disinfection of the house — Best disinfectants — Standard solution of carbolic. 



Xll CONTENTS. 

acid — Carbolized ointment— Purified mutton suet — Fomentations — Wet packing 
— Poultices— Cooling applications— Doses of medicine— To disguise the taste of 
disagreeable medicines — Old bottles — Convenient measurement of doses— Root 
And herb teas— Syrups — Limewater — Invalid drinks — Iced tea — Coffee — Egg 
mulled in tea or coffee — Plain chocolate— Egg chocolate — Breakfast cocoa— Co- 
coa shells — Corn coffee — Toast water — Oatmeal water — Tamarind water — Jelly 
water — Lemonade —Raspberry lemonade — Flaxseed lemonade — Parched flax- 
seed— Mullein tea — Liquid foods for the sick — Milk — Milk and egg — Butter-milk 
— Kumiss— Rennet — Ingluvin — Flour gruel for diarrhoea — Oatmeal gruel — Indi- 
an meal gruel — Beef tea— Beef essence — Mutton broth — Calves' feet broth — 
Oyster stew — Oyster soup — Mock oyster soup — Various food recipes — Panada 
— Peptonized beef — Meat paste — Boiled and baked eggs' — Chicken jelly — Curds 
and cream — Two ways of cooking asparagus — Boiled rice — Saratoga potatoes — 
Dandelion salad — Water-cress — Baked apples — Apple jelly — Rhubarb jelly — 
Blackberry jam — Tomato figs — Ice cream— Plain boiled custard — Candy for 
children — Peanut candy — Butter-scotch — Molasses candy — Chocolate creams 

—Fruit candy.— Pages. 319-349 

Family Pets. — Cruelty to animals common — Cats — Food — Manners — Drink 
— Housing— Medicine — Diarrhoea — Inflammation of stomach — Bronchitis — Con- 
sumption — Fits — The yellows — Milk fever — Skin diseases — Sore eyes — Ulcers 
and sores — Sore throat— Dogs and their diseases — Foods — Clean water should be 
furnished plentifully — Dogs must be kept clean— Sleeping place — Method of 
giving them medicine— Throat and lung disorders — Decayed teeth — Diseases of 
the stomach — Worms and other parasites — Skin diseases — Mange — Ringworm — 
Abscesses, bruises, ulcers, etc. — Fits — Hydrophobia— Distemper — Canary birds — 
Baths — Drink — Diet— Diseases of birds— Colds — Gapes — Asthma — Consumption 
— Constipation — Diarrhoea and dysentery — Tympany — Epilepsy — Egg-bound — 
Stoppage of fat glands — Parasites — Overgrown claws and beak — Loaded feet — 
Broken limbs — Moulting — Our duty to dumb animals. — Pages.. 350-372 



INTE.ODUOTION". 



" In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And 
God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and everything that 
creepeth upon the earth after his kind; and God saw that it was good. 

And God said, " Let us make man in our image, after our like- 
ness ; and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over 
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and 
over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God 
saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." 

In the days immediately following the creation men lived long, 
and when their work was done died of old age, after a century or more 
of active existence. 

Although the average length of life is greater now than at any 
time since the world drifted into the state of mental darkness known 
as the " dark ages," yet it barely reaches 45 years in our day. There 
are now known and described no less than 899 distinct diseases, which 
afflict the human race, and nearly three-fourths of the people on the 
globe are sick in some way each year. It is estimated that in our own 
land, which we believe to be the most intelligent on the globe, there 
are annually 100,000 deaths from diseases produced, or propagated, 
by foul air, impure water or pernicious food, and therefore easily pre- 
ventable. Clearly, mankind has greatly deteriorated, physically, 
since the period when God, contemplating his finished work, pro- 
nounced it good. The death rate among the young of our race is 
frightfully in excess of that among the young of domestic animals. 
It is said that no more than ten per cent, of the young of cattle, and 
only five per cent, of horses, perish annually from disease, while the 
death rate among babies and young children in our larger cities during 
the summer runs up to fifty per cent., and even higher, while the aver- 
age for the year, taking city and country together, is fully forty per cent. 

How much better off the little ones would be if they bore a fixed 
market value, like pigs, and calves, and colts. 

Those who die represent but a comparatively small per cent, of 
those who suffer from sickness, and are not only unable to care for 



I INTRODUCTION. 

themselves, but require the time and labor of one or more well people. 
This throws a burden upon the healthy, for which mere dollars and 
cents can never pay. 

Taking into account the suffering from loss of loved ones, which 
cannot be computed in money; the loss of labor on account of sick- 
ness and caring for the sick; the amount expended for medicines, doc- 
tors and luxuries for invalids (which keeps many a family in poverty, 
and unable to make provision for the inevitable " rainy day"), the tax 
which ignorance imposes upon society is immense. 

The knowledge necessary for protection against preventable dis- 
eases is easily acquired by all who seek it; the conditions which insure 
good health are simple, and may be -summed up under seven heads, as 
follows : 

1. Fresh air to breathe. 

2. Pure water to drink. 

3. Clean houses to live in. 

4. Good drains to keep the premises clean. 

5. Suitable clothing, adapted to the climate. 

6. Nourishing food. 

7. Good habits. 

Physiology is usually regarded as dry and uninteresting, there- 
fore it will be gone into only far enough to make plain the practical 
facts that follow it, and it is hoped that the reader will not ignore this 
subject altogether. 

The first condition of a" Happy Home " is perfect health. The 
jarring and discord which destroys the happiness of families originates 
more frequently than is suspected in an irritated nervous system, a 
congested brain, or a dyspeptic stomach. That pleasant state of life 
in which it is a luxury to breathe, in which there is no reminder that 
such organs as a stomach, a liver, or a brain exist, makes toil twice as 
effective, and oils the machinery of daily life so that petty frictions 
pass unnoticed, or are easily endured. The mother is the natural 
physician for the family, because her watchful, intelligent care is ever 
at hand, quick to discern the approach of peril, full of resources to 
undo the results of injurious exposure, or accident, while the home, 
with its surroundings, is largely under her supervision. The remedy, 
then, for preventable diseases lies with the women, and they incur a 
grave responsibility in neglecting to inform themselves in all that 
tends to the preservation of the health and lives of those intrusted to 
their guardianship. 



THE STRUCTURE OF BONES. 



CHAPTER I. 
THE FRAMEWORK OF THE HOUSE WE LIVE IN. 

The framework of the human body is formed of nearly 200 distinct 
bones, of various shapes and sizes. For convenience of description 
they are divided into long bones, of which those forming the limbs are 
examples, and flat bones, like those inclosing the brain. They give 
shape to the body, contain and protect the vital parts, and act as levers 
to the muscles. If you have never seen a human bone divested of flesh, 
and are curious to know what it looks like, examine one from a leg of 
beef and mutton. It is made of exactly the same material as your own 
bones, and in the same proportion. There is in the center a cavity 
filled with a fatty substance, commonly called "marrow," or, some- 
times, "oil of bones." Around this is a solid layer filled with tiny 
holes, which shows very distinctly where the flesh has been boiled off. 
This soft part the doctors call the " spongy bone; " it forms most of 
the thickness, but around the outside of it is a layer, much harder 
and more compact, covered by a thin skin which adheres very closely to 
it; the name of this skin or covering is the periosteum, which means 
" around the bone." It will be noticed that everywhere those bones 
in which great strength is needed are hollow. Man has discovered, 
taking a hint from Nature, that a hollow tube or column is stronger 
than a solid one; it is lighter in weight and less brittle. The long 
bones in the body, being made up of a thick, spongy, slightly elastic 
inner layer, and a thin, hard and more brittle outside layer, will stand 
greater violence without breaking than any kind of a lever or support 
which man has made. In our school days we were taught that all 
things in nature belong to the animal, vegetable or mineral kingdoms, 
or, in other words, all living things are either animal or vegetable, and 
all substances which have no life or cannot grow belong to the class of 
minerals, such as rocks, sand, clay, the precious metals and many drugs. 
There are other terms with which we must be familiar before we ex- 
amine the bones further, namely, organic and inorganic. Objects that 
are alive, or substances that once belonged to living objects, form or- 



4 THE CAUSE OF BRITTLE BONES. 

ganic matter, while those derived from the mineral kingdom are inor- 
ganic. We shall have frequent occasion to employ these and other 
scientific terms as we proceed, and it is just as well to use the right 
words, provided we mutually understand their meaning, as here em- 
ployed. To resume our subject, the hardness of bone depends upon 
the proportion of mineral matter which it contains. All bones contain 
considerable phosphate of lime (the same material which makes 
the outer coat of a grain of wheat so hard), and several other minerals, 
all held together by an animal substance or organic matter. The min- 
eral substances may be removed from a bone without destroying its 
shape, by soaking it for several days in a glass jar containing water 
made very sour with muriatic acid; this makes it very flexible, and if 
long enough it may be tied in a knot without breaking. The substance 
left after removing the mineral is principally gelatine or glue. The 
animal matter may be removed from a bone, leaving only the minerals, 
by burning it. Throw one on the coals and leave it till it will burn no 
more, it will then be seen to be very white and brittle, easily crumbling; 
it can be pounded or ground into a dry white powder. The animal 
matter holds the salts together and makes the bone tough; if there be 
too large a proportion of it they will bend easily, and in growing chil- 
dren such bones are liable to become curved or crooked. 

The proportion of animal matter to mineral is always greater in 
children than in adults, therefore their bones will bend before they 
will break; and when they do break they will not snap in two, making 
a complete fracture, but, like a green stick, some fibres will break and 
some will not, so surgeons often speak of a broken bone in a child as 
being a " green stick fracture." It is a very good thing that their bones 
are in this state, for the numerous tumbles the little folks are sure to 
have while learning to walk would make sad havoc with their bones 
if they broke like those of older people. As we advance in life the 
structure of the body is continually changing; the bones gradually re- 
ceive a larger proportion of mineral than of animal material, and be- 
come more brittle, so that in old age they are easily broken. The 
writer once saw an old gentleman suffering from a broken leg, pro- 
duced while drawing on a boot that did not go on easily. In another 
case an old lady, on attempting to arise from a rocking-chair, twisted 
her hip slightly and broke off the neck of the thigh bone; this accident 
caused her intense suffering for many months, until finally death came 
to her relief. People, as they grow old, cannot be too careful in walk- 



NAMES OF THE PRINCIPAL BONES OF THE SKELETON. 



ing over slippery places, going up and down stairs, or lifting heavy 
weights. Many people have a singular reluctance to believe themselves 
enfeebled by age, or incapable of doing anything they ever could do, 




1. Skull. 

2. Lower jaw-bone. 

3. Ribs. 

4. Lower end of spine. 

5. Hip-bone. Ilium. 



FIG. 1. THE SKELETON. 

6. Shoulder-blade. Scapula. 

7. Long; bone of arm. Humerus. 

8. Slender bone of fore-arm. Ulna. 

9. Strong bone of fore-arm. Radius. 
10. Wrist-bones. Carpus. 



11. Thigh-bone. Femur. 

12. Shin-bone. Tibia. 

13. Outer bone of the leg. 
Fibula. 



therefore they should be guarded as much as possible by younger mem- 
bers of the family from taking risks that may result in dangerous or 



6 BANDY-LEGS VARIETIES OF JOINTS. 

painful injuries. In some families the children seem to have unusually 
brittle bones, which are snapped in two by slight falls; in such cases 
there is nothing to be done except to guard them as much as possible 
from accident, and to be more than ordinarily careful of their diet and 
habits of eating, so that they may be well nourished. There is a disease 
of childhood, exceedingly common among the very poor, in which the 
bones are not supplied with sufficient mineral matter; they are softer 
than usual and bend beneath the weight of the body, producing bow- 
legs or bandy-legs, knock-knees, or deformed joints. This subject will 
be treated of separately later on. 

Joints. — The bones are united by joints, of which there are two 
kinds — the movable and immovable. 

A table knife has the blade fixed in the handle, so that it cannot 
move; this is one form of immovable joint. The blades of a pocket- 
knife, which open and shut, form with the handle one kind of movable 
joint, very much like our elbow; this is known as the hinge joint. We 
have also ball and socket joints, of which the shoulder and hip joints 
are examples. 

A joint, then, is a place where two bones join together; they are 
held in place by strong bands, called ligaments. The ends of the bones 
forming the joint are covered with a thin, smooth layer of gristle or 
cartilage, which is elastic and serves the same purpose as india rubber 
buffers placed on machinery to lessen shock; in all the movable joints 
there is a fluid like white of egg, called " joint water," or " joint oil,'' 
which keeps the ends of the bones lubricated, so that they move with- 
out friction. Around the joint is a small closed sac called the fibrous 
capsule, inside of whioh the two bones play, but they cannot pass 
beyond a certain limit. Place two round sticks end to end, glue around 
them a piece of linen; this will represent the fibrous capsule and give 
a very good idea of a joint; it will be seen that while the sticks can 
move freely they cannot be separated, in any position, except by force. 
A very curious property cf this capsule is that it maybe cut or pricked 
without pain; but if the limb be pulled, twisted, or in any way injured, 
so as to separate the ends of the bones, the capsule immediately 
becomes the seat of severe pain. It only knows its own password. In 
children it can be stretched much more than in later life. Contortion- 
ists, who can twist themselves into all sorts of unnatural shapes, begin 
to iearn the business when very young, and a very cruel business it is. 
Older people have tough capsules, which make the joints very strong; 



CONSEQUENCE OF LIFTING A CHILD BY ONE ARM. / 

in the old they are liable to be incrusted with lime (something like tea 
kettles where hard water is used), making the joints stiff, so that it is 
difficult to stoop or use the limbs freely. Another word about the 
"joint water," or, to use the doctors' term, "synovial fluid:" it is neces- 
sary that the joint be frequently used or this fluid will dry up, and 
when it does the consequences are very bad. The smooth, white car- 
tilages on the ends of the bones forming the joint inflame, swell, and 
grow together, so that the joint is no longer movable; it becomes " an- 
chylosed," or locked. There is no danger in a day or two; it is a pro- 
tracted sickness which confines one in the same position a long time, or 
a broken bone which does not do well and must be kept a long time 
motionless, that causes the mischief. Doctors make such patients 
begin as soon as possible to go through various motions that seem use- 
less, on purpose to keep the " joint water " fluid and prevent stiff joints. 
It is very important that mothers understand why this exercise is neces- 
sary, because children, if left to themselves, will never attend to it, and 
may, in consequence of neglect to enforce motion, become cripples for 
life. We must not omit to mention the ligaments which strengthen 
the joints. They are stout, fleshy bands, terminating in very strong 
cords called tendons or sinews. These tendons are fastened to the 
bones and move them as levers are. moved. They can be stretched or 
contracted at will, to permit the various movements of the joint. 

In a healthy person these ligaments are very strong and can 
prevent injury to the joint they protect from any ordinary force. They 
must be greatly stretched, torn or bruised before the joint can be drawn 
out of place. On the contrary, in persons who are weak, whose flesh 
is very soft, as in those recovering from a severe illness, they give way 
more readily and permit dislocation of the joint. In children these 
ligaments are soft and yield to slight force. A very common accident, 

which conveys a moral, happened to the child of a certain Mrs. B» . 

She was out shopping with her little girl of three; passing over a muddy 
crossing she lifted the child over by one hand; the little one screamed 
and writhed with pain; it was found that the mother had pulled the 
arm out of joint at the shoulder. This accident is very troublesome, 
because for a long time afterward the arm will slip out of joint much 
easier than at first. We once met a man whose right arm was useless, 
because the shoulder joint had been dislocated so often; the arm bone 
would slip out by its own weight, and he was obliged to carry the arm 
in a sling all the time. 



8 DISEASE OF HIP AND KNEE JOINTS. 

The hip joint is like the shoulder, a ball and socket joint, with 
this difference — there is a short, strong band inside the capsule, 
which is connected at one end with the ball, at the other with the 
socket, to make the joint stronger. This is a most fortunate pro- 
vision, because the hip joints must bear the whole weight of the 
body as well as of the clothing, which is often considerable; if not very- 
strong, they could not safely bear the additional strain which they 
receive from jumps, falls or in wrestling, lifting heavy weights, climb- 
ing, or wielding heavy tools. When they become diseased they are 
very difficult to cure, because the body cannot be moved without moving 
them. Delicate children, especially those suffering from rickets or 
scrofula, are often seriously injured by blows or falls on the hips, 
which would not attract attention in stronger constitutions. As an ex- 
ample of what an apparently slight injury has done in such a case, the 
following is related, which occurred many years ago: A boy, about 
ten years of age, was perched upon a window sill at the school-house at 
noon time; the children at play pushed him out of the open window, 
he fell only five or six feet, striking on the frozen ground, bruising one 
nip. He cried some about it, but remained in school during the after- 
noon and walked home without help. In the morning he was unable 
to leave his bed. It was nearly six months before he could leave his 
room, and when he did so it was with a deformed hip and shortened 
leg, which have compelled him to walk with crutches ever since. Chil- 
dren have been known to have hip disease from sitting on damp grass; 
also from kicks and blows. 

The knee joint is protected by a flat bone called the knee cap; 
women who kneel to scrub floors and stone steps are liable to have in- 
flamed knee caps. These cause considerable suffering and endanger 
the joint, because if the inflammation should spread to it, the ''joint 
water" would be dried up and the knees become stiff. The trouble 
may be prevented by binding on the knees a soft pad made with a hole 
in the center for the knee cap to drop into when kneeling. The ankle 
joint suffers more frequently from sprain than any other. A severe 
sprain not only draws apart some of the fibers of the muscles covering 
this joint, but damages the capsule, which quickly resents harsh treat- 
ment by pain, and is only quieted by long rest. Surgeons consider a 
bad sprain a much more serious affair than a broken bone, for it is more 
difficult to cure. Scrofulous persons cannot be too careful to adopt 
proper treatment immediately to avert the danger of ''white swelling" 



SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT FOE SPRAINED ANKLE. 9 1 

following a sprain. The first thing to be done is to give the joint per- 
fect rest until the pain disappears; this can only be done by bandaging 
the limb to prevent all motion of the joint. After the pain is lessened, 
it is best to begin exercising it gently to prevent loss of motion. A 
good liniment kneaded into the flesh around the joint is sometimes an 
important aid to recovery. A liniment especially good in sprains is 
called " Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment;" it takes out the sore- 
ness and stimulates circulation. The reader is referred to the page 
where bandaging is illustrated for the method of protecting the joint 
from motion. 

The Skull. — The skull is a box of bone, arched on top to make- 
it strong. The heavy loads which some people carry balanced on their 
heads show how strong it is. It needs to be strong, because it incloses 
and protects our most precious possessions. The delicate brain, the 
home of thought, reason, and all that makes man differ from the beast, 
lies beneath this arched dome. The eyes with which we see are placed 
in fronts our ears in the side; nose and mouth also are in the same 
bony box, which holds the senses of sight, hearing, taste and smell. 

The skull is not made of one piece of bone; on the top it is 
formed of several thin plates with toothed edges, which fit together as 
two saws would do were the teeth of one laid in the notches of the 
other. This union shows most plainly in a baby's skull, which is gristly 
for some time, with the bones loosely joined together. It also has a. 
hole in the top through which the brain may be felt. A new-born babe 
has a very soft, imperfect brain, only developed enough to enable it to- 
eat, sleep, cry and see a little. It grows some every day, and by the 
time it is a year old the brain, is twice as large as when it was born. 
The bones grow also, and the open space in the top is slowly filled up. 
There are several reasons for the soft skull : one is to give room for the- 
brain to grow; another, to protect the child from injury, because it is 
certain to receive many falls and blows before it learns to walk firmly. 
The intelligent child is always active, but its judgment being slowly 
developed, it needs many safeguards to carry it safely through all the 
perils which its activity brings upon it. There is something in the old 
saying that "if a child doesn't fall out of bed before he is a year old 
he will be a fool." It is not that falling out of bed makes any difference, 
but the foolish or idiotic child will stay where it is placed, and is in no 
danger of falling out of bed or getting into mischief of any kind; so, 
dear mothers, have patience with the little mischief makers and thank 



10 HYDROCEPHALUS, OR " WATER IN THE HEAD." 

heaven that they are capable of getting into mischief, for a mother is 
never more unfortunate than when her child proves to have a defective 
brain. To return to our subject, some Indian tribes flatten the fore- 
heads of infants by pressing the skull into the shape they admire, keep- 
ing it bound tightly, and in time the skull hardens into that shape. 
Some ignorant mothers try to press the bones of baby's head together 
to make it close up. It should be let alone ; when nature has shaped 
the brain properly the bones will grow over the space, provided the 
child is well, and if it is not it should have a doctor's attention. Blows 
upon the top of the head are dangerous; they may destroy sight and 
memory. A box on the ear has often destroyed hearing. Striking 
animals on the head is very cruel, for it only makes them stupid. 

The skull is inclosed in a covering consisting of three layers; the 
outside one is the scalp, on which the hair grows ; under it is a layer of 
muscles which can move the scalp a little ; below these is a membrane 
which grows closely to the bone. Beneath the skull is a very tough 
membrane to protect the brain in case the skull is broken; below this is 
a thin, smooth, moist membrane, and again under this is another mem- 
brane which grows fast to the brain and is little more than a net work 
of blood vessels which feed the brain; between this last membrane and 
the one over it there is always a little fluid similar to the "joint water," 
which keeps the membranes moist, making a soft packing between the 
delicate brain and the skull. There is a disease rather common 
among scrofulous and rickety children which greatly increases the 
amount of this fluid; the skull will grow to an enormous size, especially 
the whole top of the head above the eyes. This disease is hydroceph- 
alus which means "water in the head." It nearly always causes death ; 
in a few cases children have recovered, but are always left with weak 
or defective minds; it is very rare indeed that one wholly recovers to 
be as bright as before it had this disease. Some ignorant nurses think 
if a baby's head be washed before the skull has closed up at the top 
the water will leak through and give it water on the brain. It is im- 
possible, of course, for water to run through the three layers outside 
and the three inside the skull and reach the brain. There is no dan- 
ger of that, but there is danger that the head will become hot and the 
brain feverish when it is not kept clean and cool. The scalp needs soap 
and water more than any other part of the body, because there is a 
great amount of oily matter oozing from it to make the hair grow. The 
dirt and dust floating in our rooms mix with this oily matter, making 



METHOD OF KEPLACING A DISLOCATED JAW. 11 

a black paste which closes up the pores. The sweat carries off the 
heat through the pores ; if these be sealed up the head will grow hot. 
A baby has no hair because its head needs to be kept cool. 

The Jaw Bones. — The bone forming the upper jaw is closely- 
joined with the skull and is immovable. The lower jaw bone is the 
largest and strongest bone of the face, and is connected with the skull, 
forming a movable joint which may be felt in front of the ear, and a 
little lower than the cheek bones. Some people who have weak mus- 
cles are troubled by the lower jaw slipping out of joint, which prevents 
closing the mouth. 

Treatment of Dislocated Jaw. — if it be out of joint on one 

side only, the chin will turn to the opposite side; if on both sides, the 
chin will be in the center with the jaw dropped, and the patient cannot 
close the mouth. To replace it. — Wrap the thumbs in a napkin, place 
them on the upper surface of the back teeth, press down and backward, 
steadily, gently, but firmly, at the same time raising the chin with the 
little fingers. The jaw will slip into place with a snap; look out for 
the fingers when this happens. The patient must live on soup for some 
days, and tie up the jaw with a handkerchief fastened on the top of the 
head. After the jaw has been once dislocated, it is liable to occur 
again, and the face should be held while yawning or chewing hard sub- 
stances. 

The Spine. — The backbone, or spine, is placed in the middle line 
of the body. It is formed of 26 small bones of irregular shape, called 
vertebrse. Some idea of their shape and the way in which they are 
joined together may be formed by examining the backbone of a fish, 
although they are very unlike in many respects. Between each pair 
of these bones there is placed an elastic cushion made of cartilage, or 
gristle, as it is more commonly called. These cushions permit the 
bones to move forward, backward and sidewise, making the body far 
more supple than if the backbone were one solid piece. Like other 
springs, they wear and weaken with use, but unlike all other springs of 
which we ever heard, they possess the remarkable power of recovering 
their elasticity by rest. A man who walks much during the day, who 
carries heavy weights, or engages in very active labor or exercise, is 
shorter at night than he is in the morning, because these cush- 
ions are flattened down and made thinner from the pressure which the 
weight of the body brings to bear upon them, just as a pillow is flat- 



12 DANGER OF LIFTING A CHILD BY THE HEAD. 

tened by the weight of the head during sleep. There is reported a case 
where a young man who measured usually 5 feet 9 inches, after 
dancing all night at a ball only measured 5 feet, 7|- inches. A 
drafted man, of exactly regulation height, walked all night before his 
examination, and the result was that he was found too short to pass. 
We will see, as we go on, that every part of the body must have exercise 
or it gets out of order. Nature is not wasteful, and if she gives us any 
gift that we do not put to some good purpose, she takes it away. These 
cushions lose their elasticity when the body is kept steadily in one 
position much of the time, so that they are not frequently used, making 
the back stiff or bent in an unnatural shape. Children at school who 
sit all day stooping over their desks, flatten the front edge of these pads, 
making them wedge-shaped, with the thin edge to the front; they some- 
times harden in this shape, making the pupils round-shouldered; this 
narrows the chest and prevents the growth of the lungs. We must not 
forget to describe the way the head and backbone are united. The 
first vertebra, or bone of the spine, is fastened firmly to the skull by 
ligaments. The lower part of this vertebra is a stout, bony ring. On 
the upper surface of the second vertebra is a large pivot which projects 
upward into the bony ring above, in which it plays freely. This allows 
the head to turn half around on its axis, to bend forward or backward 
These two bones are joined more loosely than any other part of the 
spine. They are held together by the strong muscles of the neck; but 
all muscles are elastic and can stretch out longer than usual when any 
extra strain comes upon them. If the body be lifted by the head, the 
ring slips up quite to the top of the tooth or pivot, and if at this 
instant the body be moved violently, the tooth may slip out of the 
ring and produce sudden death. Never allow any one to lift a child by 
the head; its struggles to escape may kill it instantly; this has actu- 
ally happened more than once. It is the way death comes from hang- 
ing, when the neck is said to be broken. Kabbits are very easily killed 
by pulling the head in one direction and the tail in another. It is 
wonderful how boys will play with death, yet so generally escape. The 
game of somersault is most dangerous; the head is placed on the 
ground as a point of support to the whole body, which passes over it. 
A false movement may throw this pivot out of its ring, in which 
case the boy would turn over a corpse. The spinal column has an- 
other purpose to serve than that of joining the head to the body, and 
supporting the latter in an erect position. Through the center of each 



THE SPINAL CORD BROKEN NECK. 13 

bone composing it, and of the pads between, there is a hole or cavity, 
making a canal from the brain to the lower end of the spine. This 
canal is filled with a substance which looks like the brain, and is really 
a prolongation of the brain itself; it is called the spinal cord. This is 
a very delicate and important substance, and is carefully guarded from 
injury by the stout, bony wall around it. The pressure upon it of the 
tooth or pivot of the second vertebra, when it slips out of its ring, 
is the cause of the sudden death that follows. It happens sometimes 
that the pivot in slipping out of joint does not press on the spinal cord, 
and in that case a broken neck can be cured. 

It is related that Wesley was once passing along a country road, 
when he was called into a house where a group of people were sur- 
rounding a man lying with his head bent over one shoulder. They 
asked him to pray with the man, because his neck was broken and he 
must die. "Wesley passed around to the man's head, grasping it firmly, 
he pulled it away from the body with all his might, then, still drawing 
upon it, he gently carried it around, until the head was on a straight 
line with the body, let go, and the pivot slipped back into its socket 
-with a distinct snap, and the man was all right. The prayer that fol- 
lowed, it is needless to say, was one of thanksgiving for the living, 
rather than intercession for the dying. 

Another instance, which occurred only a few years ago, did not ter- 
minate so happily. A lawyer of great local reputation was summoned 
to an adjacent county to attend a suit. As he was leaving the court 
yard some sound attracted his attention; turning his head to see what 
it was, a hard snowball struck his neck, slipping it out of joint. He 
walked on to his hotel, sent for a surgeon; the latter feared to make 
an attempt to replace the bone lest he kill his patient in the trial. Din- 
ner was eaten, and with his head still turned over one shoulder the law- 
yer returned to the court house and completed his business there, after- 
ward riding home on the cars. Ten days later a sudden jar or move- 
ment of some kind slipped the pivot upon the spinal cord, and he expired 
instantly. A violent shaking may seriously injure the spinal cord of a 
little child. Indeed, when we consider the delicate structure and incom- 
plete state of the body in childhood, we must conclude that it was not 
made for a foot ball, to be kicked or knocked around, as children some- 
times are. Severe blows upon any part of the body are always dan- 
gerous, and should never be permitted, either in the family or the 
school room. 



14 TREATMENT OF BROKEN RIBS. 

The Ribs. — These are elastic arches of bone, forming the walls of 
the chest, which protect the organs within from external injury. There 
are twelve on each side, and all are joined to the spine at one end. The 
seven upper ones are also connected in front with the breast bone; the 
three next are shorter, and the front ends are connected by cartilage or 
gristle; the two remaining ones are free in front. There are spaces 
between them filled in with muscle, as may be seen by examining the 
ribs of an animal. The ribs are arranged so that when the lungs are 
filled with air they rise upward, to make room in the chest, and 
as the air is breathed out they fall, to diminish the size and help press 
the air out of the lungs. This mechanism, if understood, will make 
plain the plan of "Artificial Respiration," which will be fully explained 
in another place, and which is such an important aid in saving life 
under many emergencies that every man, woman and child ought to 
know how to produce it. An examination of the illustrations will help 
you to understand it. 

Fracture of the ribs in consequence of a fall or a blow causes an 
aching pain, which becomes sharp or acute on taking a deep breath. 
If the injury be followed by spitting of blood, keep the patient very 
quiet, send for a doctor, and give no stimulant while waiting for him. 
When the chest is bruised, hot cloths or poultices may be applied. Band- 
age the chest firmly with a strip of flannel 4 or 5 fingers wide, to lessen 
its movement in breathing, as this motion draws the broken ends of 
bone apart, increasing the suffering and the injury. If there be an 
external wound, lose no time in covering with a wet cloth and bandag- 
ing; move the patient as little as possible, and keep him lying on the 
injured side till the doctor comes. 

The Scapula, or shoulder blade, covers the back part of the 
shoulder, and contains the socket in which the large bone of the arm 
plays. It is constructed of a form best suited to protect the joint from 
injury, and in the young is partly bone and partly gristle. It does not 
become wholly bone until nearly the seventeenth year. 

The Clavicle, or collar bone, is shaped like an italic letter /, 
and lies across the upper part of the chest just above the first rib. This 
bone is more slender in women, and of different size and shape than in 
men; this is the reason that women throw stones or other objects dif- 
ferently; they cannot, let them try as they will, learn to throw like a 
man. When this bone is broken, the shoulder falls forward and down- 



HARD LABOR INJURES GROWING CHILDREN. 15 

ward, while the broken ends can be easily felt through the skin. This 
bone is often broken in children, and it is very trying to the child, as 
well as the mother, to keep the arm and shoulder immovable long 
enough for the broken ends to knit firmly together. If motion be per- 
mitted, an unsightly lump will be left; this is especially dreaded for 
girls who are expected to grow up to become "society ladies," and ap- 
pear on party occasions with necks uncovered. 

Like every other part of the body, bones are increased in size and 
strength by use, and weakened by inaction. The bones of laborers are 
therefore stronger than those of professional men who take little exer- 
cise. The tendons or sinews being fastened near the ends of bones, when 
the bones are actively moved about more blood is carried to those 
points; this increases the size there; consequently the joints of mechan- 
ics, farmers, washerwomen, and all who do hard manual labor, are 
larger than in people who do lighter work, or none at all. 

Those who begin practicing upon the piano while quite young 
have large joints, for a similar reason. Children should not be put to 
hard labor before they get their growth, for it stunts them and may 
produce deformity. The consequences may be seen if a young animal, 
like a colt, be put to severe and continued labor; the bones become 
hardened before they grow to full size, and the animal never attains 
the size it would have done if it had received different treatment. The 
bones of the lower limbs, in early life, are very soft, and bend when 
the weight of the body is thrown upon them. Therefore a perfectly 
healthy child may have bandy legs if urged to walk or stand too soon. 
Benches and chairs in the school room and at home should be of such 
a height that the feet can touch the floor. When they are too high, 
the pupil leans forward, soon becomes tired, restless and unfit for study; 
the weight of the limbs below the knees may make the flexible thigh 
bones curved or crooked, the ribs bend inward and lessen the cavity 
of the chest, and the shoulders become rounded. This is a great mis- 
fortune, because a narrow chest confines the lungs in too small a 
space, producing a feeble constitution, too often ending in early death. 
Pupils writing or drawing at a desk frequently incline the spine to one 
side to accommodate the body to the desk. This attitude raises one 
shoulder, when the desk is higher than the elbow at rest, while the weight 
of the other arm drags the shoulder down on that side. This, in time, 
curves the upper spine toward the raised shoulder, while the lower part 
of the spine becomes curved in the other direction. The spine natu- 



16 TREATMENT OF BROKEN BONES. 

rally curves from front to back, but not from side to side. Mothers and 
teachers should watch children when sewing and studying, or practic- 
ing, seated on a piano stool, and have them change their position often; 
the feebler the child, the more frequently should it change position, 
so as not to tire out one part sooner than another. A slight curvature 
of the spine may be corrected by keeping erect when standing or sit- 
ting. A good exercise for straightening the spine is to walk about 
carrying a book balanced upon the head. 

Broken bones should always have the attention of a surgeon, when 
it is possible to procure one. There are -three very important things to 
do to secure perfect union. 1. The ends of the bones must be brought 
into their natural place, and as near together as possible. 2. They 
must be held firmly in place by suitable "splints" and bandages, until 
knit together. These will need readjusting as the swelling goes down. 
3. Great care must be used during the " knitting process," and on first 
beginning to take exercise after the accident, to prevent the limb from 
becoming shorter or crooked. When a surgeon is called, he is nearly 
always dismissed as soon as the swelling subsides, and during the most 
critical time which follows the bone has home care only. This is usu- 
ally a mistake, and no one who dismisses his surgeon at this stage has 
any right to charge him with the fault if the limb proves to be de- 
formed on recovery. 

After broken bones have united, there will sometimes be trouble 
for years with pieces of bones working out. This is because the bone 
was splintered at the time of the accident, some pieces not being en- 
tirely separated for a long time; occasionally it is due to disease of the 
bone itself; in either case the only way to cure it is to have a sur- 
geon cut down to the seat of the injury and scrape out all diseased or 
broken pieces. As this is done under ether, it causes no pain, and is 
not a dangerous operation. 

"What Bones Are Made Of. — We have been talking some time 
of the bones of the body, but have neglected to tell what materials are 
needed for their repair, or how the work is done. The most important 
ingredients of bone are lime, gelatine, and phosphorus. These three 
substances are familiar to us in other forms, —phosphorus being used in 
making matches ; it is also employed frequently as a rat poison. Gela- 
tine is the glue made from boiling bones. Lime is used for whitewash. 
We get these materials from our food; it is of no use to buy them from 



WHAT BONES ARE MADE OF. 17 

the druggist and expect to make sound bones by swallowing the crude 
drugs. They must first pass through the laboratory of nature, and be 
transformed, in some way which we do not fully understand, into a 
form in which they can be taken up by vegetables; these are eaten by 
animals, and we, eating both vegetables and animals, receive our sup- 
ply of lime, gelatine and phosphorus, through them. Medical men have 
had bones dissolved and given to patients who needed bone-forming 
material, expecting with the ready-made substance to hasten the work 
of bone repair, but this plan has proven a failure. We cannot evade 
labor in that way. There is but one way to make good bones, to eat 
a varied diet, that we may have a supply of every element needed; to 
digest perfectly the food eaten; to assimilate what is digested, which 
means simply this, that after the food is ready prepared to make bone 
(or any other part of the body) it must be carried where it is needed, 
and used for the purpose intended. We may eat heartily, yet starve, 
because the digestive organs fail to do their work; we may eat plenty, 
digest perfectly, yet starve, because the assimilating apparatus is out of 
order, and fails to work. It is not always easy to decide where the 
cause of a given illness is to be sought, and even when found it is fre- 
quently very difficult to discover a remedy. It is in such cases that 
doctors do their hardest work, and no one but a skilled and educated 
physician is competent to advise for them. Because he sometimes 
fails, it is no argument against the value, or necessity of his services. 

A child of seven should have firm and strong bones, but if he has 
not been fed on food that contains the right proportion of the neces- 
sary materials, he will grow up with crooked legs, weak or deformed 
frame, and be a poor, miserable creature. There is one food that con- 
tains them all, and every child should have it at every meal for the first 
ten years of life, and that is milk. It should not be the only food, 
do not misunderstand this statement, but it should form a part of every 
meal. If it could take the place of tea and coffee, which injudicious 
parents give young children, to their serious injury, it would be a re- 
form in diet which is greatly needed. 



18 THE TEETH. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE TEETH— THEIR DEVELOPMENT, CAUSES OF DECAY, AND 
PRESERVATION. 

An examination of a jaw bone will show along the margins, where 
the teeth have been, a row of deep holes in the bone, which are the 
sockets in which the teeth grew. A thin layer of bone, no thicker 
than paste board, extends above the jaw and encircles the tooth. 
It is fastened in the jaw by a membrane, like that covering the 
bones elsewhere, which grows fast around the root of the tooth, and 
also to the inside of the cavity. A specimen of membrane familiar to 
everybody is that lining an egg shell. A dentist, in taking out 
a tooth, tears this membrane loose and breaks off the nerve; some- 
times pieces of bone come away after the tooth is extracted, and 
the dentist is charged with breaking the jaw. Instead of the jaw, 
the loose bit of bone is a piece of the thin layer projecting above the 
jaw bone, which was broken at the instant the tooth became loose. If 
any part of it be splintered off, it will work out in time. Sometimes a 
large piece comes away fastened to the tooth. If this be carefully 
examined it will be found that the membrane at the point of union has 
been changed into bone, so that it would be impossible to extract the 
tooth at all, except by breaking this thin portion of the socket. It is 
caused by disease of the tooth, and is more commonly found after an 
abscess has existed some time. The jaw bone itself never breaks when 
a tooth is extracted, unless it is diseased, and when this is the case the 
dentist or surgeon is not to blame for the accident. 

We are provided by kind Providence with two sets of teeth, and 
when the permanent set is lost, it is usually our own fault, but no less a 
misfortune, for no artificial teeth can compare with those of Nature's 
own providing. The first set are called milk teeth; they begin to ap- 
pear at about the seventh month and are complete about the end of the 
second year. There is a great variation in these dates ; instances have 
been known where the front teeth were developed at birth, and again 
the first tooth will not appear for a year or more. The writer knows a 



TEMPORARY TEETH. 



19 



healthy young lady whose first tooth did not appear until she was 
eighteen months old. She had not been sick, and having been allowed 
to eat of the same food as the family, her gums had become very hard 
from attempting to chew her food. This made the cutting of the teeth 
difficult, and caused more suffering than usual, but she passed safely 
through the ordeal, and her second set came at the average age. If a 
child appears to be healthy, and the teeth fail to come when expected, 
there is no occasion for alarm. The temporary set contains twenty teeth : 
four incisors, directly in front, (this name is given them because they 
are used to cut the food) ; two eye teeth, or canines, one on each side of 
the incisors. These were called eye teeth from an old notion that they 
are connected with the eyes and extracting them injures the eye-sight. 



A i 1 i 1 


m 


m 


Jfe 


il 


1 


1 


f 



TTG. 2. PERMANENT TEETH. 
The upper row represents the teeth of the upper jaw; the others, those of the lower jaw. 
1, 2, Incisors, or Cutting Teeth. 4, 5, Bi-Cuspids. 8, Wisdom Tooth, a Molar. 

3, Canine, or Eye Tooth. 6, 7, Molars or Grinders. 9, Neck of Tooth. 



This belief has no foundation in fact; they have no influence whatever 
over the eyes. The name canine is given them because they corres- 
pond with the holding and tearing teeth of dogs. Back of these, on 
each side, are the two molars, named from a Latin word which means 
mill, because they grind the food we eat. They are best known as 
double teeth. 

A tooth has three parts: the crown, or the portion to be seen 
above the gum; the fang, or root, which is embedded in the jaw bone; 
and the neck, or the part to which the gum adheres. It is made of 



20 



PERMANENT TEETH. 



ivory and enamel. The inside of the crown is made of ivory, which is 
tougher, harder and more durable than bone; it has an outside coating 
of enamel that is extremely hard. A very good idea of the way enamel 
covers the crown may be gained by examining a piece of a china plate. 
The fine white enamel is a coating upon the coarser clay of which the 
plate is made. The root cr fang of the tooth and the neck are made 
wholly of ivory. The enamel is thickest over the surfaces used in cut- 
ting and grinding our food; it is worn away very slowly, and when of 
good material (it then has a yellowish hue), with good care it will out- 
wear an ordinary life. Many women destroy their front teeth by biting 
off thread; more girls and boys destroy their double teeth by using 
them for nut crackers. If the enamel be cracked, as it is very likely to 
be by hard usage, it permits the fluids of the mouth to ooze through to 
the ivory and set up decay. Small white cords, called nerves, pass from 
the jaw up through the fang of the tooth; these give warning when 
the tooth is in danger, causing that common malady which can conquer 
the bravest spirit — namely, toothache. 

The permanent set begins to appear during the sixth year. The 
new tooth grows outward, and pressing against the root of the milk 
tooth, the latter slowly disappears to make room for the new comer, 
until, when ready to push through the gum, the first tooth is held in 
place merely by the edge of the gum, and can be easily pulled out by 
a thread tied about it. The jaw has grown larger by the time the tem- 
porary teeth begin to come, and more teeth are needed to fill the space 
ready for them, therefore there are thirty-two permanent ones: four 
incisors, two canine, four bi-cuspids, and six molars in each jaw. This 
set is complete about the thirteenth year, with the exception of the 
third molar, or wisdom tooth, which is delayed until the twentieth to 
the thirtieth year, and sometimes later. Occasionally it never appears 
at all. 

The first permanent tooth is the sixth year molar. At that age there 
is room back of the temporary set for one more tooth, and this one 
comes to stay. It is apt to be neglected if it begins to decay, because 
it is thought to be a milk tooth; but this is a great mistake, and it is 
outrageous to have it pulled; it is just as large and its roots just as 
long at seven as at forty. Of the permanent set, the incisors, cuspids 
and bi-cuspids, each have one root. The molars of the upper jaw have 
three, and of the lower jaw two roots. The illustration shows their 
form. The teeth divide and prepare our food for the stomach. They 



CAKE OF THE TEETH. 21 

enable us to speak distinctly; when they are lost the jaw grows smaller, 
the cheeks and lips fall in, altering the appearance of the face. Owing 
to the small importance which the public places upon preserving the 
teeth, we have given considerable space to this subject, which has 
more to do with the state of the health than is generally believed. 
The care of the teeth is as important as the care of any other part of 
the body, and children should be taught to clean them as regularly as 
they wash their faces (it takes but a moment, and is the only way to 
keep them sound and free from decay). 

Care Of the Teeth. — Cleanliness is the best tooth preserver, 
soap and water the best dentifrice when the mouth is healthy. Mothers 
should clean their children's teeth daily until they are old enough to 
do it themselves. There are three points to be looked after — the grind- 
ing surface, between them, and at the margin of the gums. The arti- 
cles needed are a soft brush (be very particular that the bristles are 




F ! c 

PIG. 3. TEMPORARY TEETH. 
I. Incisors. F. Permanent Incisors. 

D. Eye-tooth. C. Permanent Eye-tooth. 

M. Molars. B. Permanent Bi-cuspids. 

S. Sixth-year Molar. N. Wisdom-Tooth. 

not loose), floss silk and a good pure soap. Not all toilet soap is fit to 
use in the mouth; the more highly perfumed it is, the more reason to 
suspect its purity ; because, by aid of chemicals, the most foetid odors 
of grease are transformed into a strong odor resembling certain per- 
fumes. The offal of slaughter houses, animals dead from disease, 
and other refuse of even more disgusting nature, are worked up into 
choice toilet soaps, and are liable to contain the germs of disease. 
There is a soap in the market prepared of pure and healthful mate- 
rials, expressly for the teeth. Its name is Dr. Ennis' Fragrant Anti- 
septic Tooth Soap, and it may be had of any druggist. It not only 
acts as a soap, but it contains materials which harden the gums and 



22 CONSEQUENCES OF DECAYED TEETH. 

counteracts the effects of unhealthy saliva, being antiseptic, as well as 
cleansing. The floss silk is employed to remove particles of food from 
between the teeth. Medicines are responsible for many spoiled teeth. 
Tincture of iron is an excellent remedy, which cannot be dispensed 
with, but it is very destructive to the teeth. The mouth should be 
rinsed immediately after each dose, with water, to which a pinch of bi- 
carbonate of soda or saleratus has been added. A better way is to 
take this medicine through a straw or a glass tube. It should always 
be given with a large quantity of water, to prevent injury to the 
stomach. Mercury is another drug which destroys many teeth; it 
does this by affecting the gums, making them spongy and loose, so 
that fluids or food is left to ferment around the soft neck of the tooth, 
which is more easily damaged than the parts covered by enamel. Any- 
thing which sets the teeth on edge is very injurious to them. Lemons, 
tooth washes containing acids, and pickles, soften the enamel and start 
decay. The following reasons for giving better care to the temporary 
teeth than is now customary, are worthy of your consideration: 

1. A cavity in a tooth makes a nest for germs of fermentation. 
These pass into the mouth and are swallowed. There is no more 
poisonous matter in nature than decayed bone. The matter scraped 
out of a foul, decayed tooth and injected into the veins of a dog will 
destroy the animal very soon, which shows its deadly nature. This 
matter mingles with the food; it is in very small quantity, it is true, 
but all physicians of experience agree that a single unsound tooth may 
furnish enough poison to seriously impair the health. The chapter 
on germs will make more clear the dangers that threaten from this 
source. 

2. A diseased milk tooth often causes decay in the one which 
takes its place; the permanent tooth sometimes having a hole in it 
when it pushes through the gum. 

3. If a nerve be exposed, as will occur after a time, toothache is 
produced by the slightest cold Toothache in an adult, who is sup- 
posed to be somewhat hardened to suffering, will destroy the good 
nature, the comfort, the rest and patience of the most forbearing. 
Imagine, if you can, its effect upon the more delicate organism of 
the child. 

4. Soreness of a tooth, caused by decay, makes the child afraid 
to bite upon it; hence the habit of bolting the food is acquired, a habit 
that is certain to produce dyspepsia later in life. 



PRESERVATION OF TEETH PRESERVES THE SYMMETRY OF THE FACE. 23 

5. A bit of apple core buried in a decayed tooth has been known 
to produce an abscess, from which the pus burrowed through the cheek, 
leaving a large, ugly scar on the face. 

6. The temporary teeth are necessary to preserve the form of the 
jaw. They support each other, and if one be taken out the ones on 
either side are pressed together after a time. The jaw is apt to be 
shortened upon that side. This makes the face one sided, or irreg- 
ular in outline, while the permanent tooth, which should occupy the 
space, is pushed out of place, and grows as a tusk outside or inside 
the gum. 

Children whose teeth are irregular may have a great deal done for 
them at the present day, not only in correcting irregularities, but in 
improving the symmetry of the jaw. It requires patience and time, 
therefore it is best to postpone this treatment until about the twelfth 
year, when they can understand the necessity of having it done. 

It will pay to have a tooth filled which is expected to last only a 
year or two. When the milk tooth is not loose as the new one begins 
to come through, it must be removed at once. If the jaw be too short, 
so that the teeth are too much crowded together, it is best to remove 
one to prevent the set from being irregular and unsightly. Parents 
can do much, aided by a good dentist, to give their children a regular 
and beautiful set of sound teeth. The trouble at present is that they 
are not cared for early enough. 

There are many serious disorders in both children and grown 
people, produced by decayed teeth, that frequently deceive not only the 
victim, but his physician as well. St. Vitus' Dance has in a few in- 
stances been cured by cleansing and filling a decayed tooth. Con- 
vulsions occurring at intervals have resisted all treatment until the 
mouth was freed from unsound teeth. A gumboil is an opening to 
discharge pus from an abscess connected with the root of a tooth with a 
putrefying pulp. These are often seen in children's mouths. The 
pus mingles with the food, is swallowed, and produces one form of 
blood poisoning. Eye and ear diseases sometimes last a long time be- 
fore it is discovered that the origin of the disease is located in the 
mouth. A middle aged lady, otherwise perfectly healthy, suffered for 
several years with attacks of intense, agonizing pain in the right side 
S)f the head. After nearly a week of suffering a small abscess in the 
right ear would discharge matter. This was a signal for cessation of 
pain. In a short time the abscess was healed, and she had no reminder 



24 AN EYE SAVED BY REMOVING A DECAYED TOOTH FROM THE JAW. 

of her trouble for several weeks at a time. Having occasion to consult 
a dentist for a broken tooth, he discovered, in the right upper jaw, 
an old root, over which the gum had closed. A tooth had been ex- 
tracted and one root left behind, unknown to her. At her request he 
removed it; attached to it was a little sac, which contained pus. It 
was not for a long time suspected that this had anything to do with 
her ear trouble, but as years passed on and she never had another 
abscess form in her ear it seems certain that her previous attacks of 
pain were caused by this old root. 

An interesting case has been reported by a surgeon of a patient 
who came to him to have an eye removed. It was sightless, and around 
it was an abscess. The surgeon, finding decayed teeth in his mouth, 
persuaded him to wait and see what treatment of the teeth could do for 
him. On taking the teeth out, one large double one had a cavity in the 
root. In this was sticking a piece of wooden toothpick that had been 
pushed clear through the root and was broken off. This started the 
eye disease, and its removal produced so favorable an effect that the 
eye was saved. A patient troubled with a foetid discharge from the 
right nostril, with heat and feeling of pressure in the same side of the 
jaw, was cured by extracting some decayed teeth on that side. Another 
case had a large tumor of the cheek; the nose was crowded around to 
the opposite side and the nostrils closed, the trouble being caused by 
some old roots. Kecovery quickly followed their extraction. The irri- 
tation occasioned by a diseased tooth may lead to the formation of a 
bony tumor on the root, which, pressing on a nerve, may cause other 
diseases than abscesses. A lady suffered from severe neuralgia, affect- 
ing the left eyeball; also the left side of head and face. The extraction 
of a tooth relieved her. This tooth had an enlarged root, which pressed 
on the nerve. Another, after being a martyr to neuralgia of the face 
for some time, had a sound tooth, which was loose and elongated, re- 
moved. A tiny bony tumor on the end of the root had caused both 
the lengthening of the tooth and the neuralgia. A young woman with 
a wry neck, which had lasted six months, and which drew the head 
nearly down to the shoulders, was cured by the removal of a tooth. 
Pressure on a nerve at any point, if long continued, will produce neu- 
ralgia. A lady suffered a long time with neuralgia of the left forearm 
before it was discovered that a badly fitted set of artificial teeth was 
the cause. 

Epilepsy, catalepsy, blindness, deafness, lock-jaw, convulsions 



CAUSES OF EARLY DECAY. 2t> 

and St. Vitus' Dance are some of the diseases which may be produced 
by diseased or crowded teeth. 

The causes of decay may be included in the following list: 

1. Inherited peculiarities, which affect the shape, softness and 
thickness of enamel. The chalky white teeth are brittle and decay 
early. The teeth of the upper and lower jaw may strike together in a 
way which makes them wear out more rapidly than usual. The 
enamel may be thin in spots, or minute fissures may remain where it 
has not been developed, as the teeth grew larger. 

2. Fractures of the enamel from biting off threads, cracking nuts, 
picking with metal toothpicks, crowding of the teeth together in the 
jaw, (which makes friction between them,) eating very hard candy, 
biting suddenly upon a hard substance (as when eating cherry pie 
which contains the pits) and any accident which subjects a tooth to a 
sudden blow. 

3. Roughening, or scouring away the enamel by a gritty tooth 
paste. For this reason powdered charcoal should not be used for a 
tooth powder. Washes which contain acids to whiten the teeth, eat- 
ing lemons, and strong vinegar, especially that which is made from 
sulphuric acid, destroy the enamel. 

4. Swelled gums. Old decaying roots make them swell; so do 
particles of food which lodge between the gum and a tooth, and an 
unhealthy stomach which is accompanied by great acidity. The in- 
flamed gums bleed and are painful when brushed; therefore the mouth 
is not well cleansed. Tartar accumulating about the neck of a tooth 
is the most frequent cause of swollen gums. 

5. Medicines which destroy the enamel. Tincture of iron, mercury 
and other drugs which are either very sour or affect the gums, belong 
to this class, as already described. A young lady of 17, with sound 
teeth, contracted diphtheria; her throat was treated with a strong solu- 
tion of tincture of iron, among other remedies, with no precaution in 
protecting the teeth. They were blackened, the enamel softened, and 
decay progressed so rapidly that a year after her recovery she was 
obliged to have every tooth extracted and have complete upper and 
lower sets of artificial teeth. Another lady of twenty lost a fine set of 
teeth in consequence of disease of the gums, caused by taking calomel, 
which produced salivation. 

6. Lack of cleanliness is the cause of the greater part of decay 
in teeth. Particles of food left in the mouth after a meal are kept 



26 



PAIS NOT ALWAYS RELIEVED BY EXTRACTION. 



warm and moist: they soon ferment, exactly as does the swill in a barrel 
exposed to the sun; they sour, and soften the enamel at the points to 
which they adhere. The time to attend to decaying teeth is when 
the first speck is discovered in the enamel. It should be filled im- 
mediately, because decay can be easily checked then and the expense 
is small. If the patient be a child with a temporary set, the filling 
should be of some soft material, as gutta percha, tin or some material 
which does not hurt as much as a gold filling. Grown people should 
not have teeth extracted simply because they ache. The nerve around 
the tooth may be diseased while the tooth is sound; in that case taking 
out a tooth will not relieve the pain. Neuralgia of the face sometimes 
produces toothache in sound teeth. A lady was kept awake two nights 
with excruciating pain, which appeared to be located in a certain tooth 
in the left side of the jaw. She called in a dentist to extract it, but he 
found it perfectly sound and tried to persuade her to save the tooth ; 
but she refused and commanded him to do as she wished. He ex- 
tracted the tooth, but there was no relief of pain. In an hour or two 
she sent for him again and insisted upon having an adjoining tooth 
taken out; he reluctantly obeyed, and she urged him to wait a little to 
see if the pain was allayed, but half an hour later, the suffering being 
as severe as before, she was determined to have a third one taken out, 
which was done. This gave no more relief than the others, and the 
dentist refused to take out any more. The next morning the gum 
ground a tooth in the opposite side of the mouth was swollen and pain- 
ful; that tooth was extracted (the root was found ulcerated), the pain 
ceased. As an example of the ingratitude a person engaged in trying 
to relieve suffering occasionally meets with, it may be added that this 
woman actually tried to obtain damages from the dentist for the loss 
of her sound teeth. She failed, as she deserved to. Tobacco chew- 
ing is an enemy to the teeth. It wears them away, and turns them 
yellow. 

Tartar is a yellowish crust which collects on the teeth at the 
edge of the gums. It gradually separates the gum from the tooth, 
which exposes the neck of the tooth to all fluids in the mouth. The 
neck, not being protected by enamel, is more easily destroyed than the 
crown and begins to decay when the gum is separated. Tartar should 
be scraped off by a dentist and the surface beneath polished. After- 
ward, occasionally scouring the teeth will keep the tartar off. The 



REMEDIES FOR TOOTHACHE. 27 

ashes of a cigar make a safe tooth-powder. Ennis' tooth-soap will 
heal the gums and cause them to adhere to the neck of the teeth. 

Toothache. — There are many prescriptions for allaying pain in 
the teeth. Sometimes one will succeed, sometimes another. As soon 
as the pain has ceased the tooth should be treated, and filled, if de- 
cayed. The first thing to do is to rinse the mouth thoroughly with 
water containing bi-carbonate of soda, as much as the water will dis- 
solve. Use the water hot or cold, as is most agreeable. Take a small 
bit of cotton batting or lint, dip it in the medicine selected, and place it 
in or on the decayed spot; cover it immediately with a larger piece of dry 
cotton or lint and shut the teeth, to hold it in place. Never take tooth- 
ache medicine in the mouth. Anything strong enough to quiet the 
pain is either poisonous or will make the mouth sore. Never go to> 
sleep with such medicine on a tooth, unless it can be packed in a cavity 
so firm that there is no danger of it being swallowed 

Toothache Remedies. No. 1. — Oil of cloves, one fluid drachm; 
sweet spirits of nitre, one fluid drachm; acetate morphia, 2 grs; mix and 
apply as above directed. This is poisonous, and must not be swal- 
lowed. 

No. 2. — Sulphuric ether, one-half fluid ounce; pulverized camphor, 
one drachm; pulverized alum, one drachm; sulphate morphine, one 
grain. Dry the cavity and apply on cotton. Do not swallow this. 

No. 3. — Dip a bit of cotton in pure creosote, crystallized carbolic 
acid, oil of cloves, laudanum or chloroform, and pack in the tooth. 
None of these should be allowed to touch the mouth. 

To Apply. Toothache Remedies. — Fasten the lint or cotton to the 
end of a knitting needle or darning needle, carry the medicine to the 
right place; then, with a second needle, hold the bit of packing in 
place while the first needle is drawn out. 

Toothache may be greatly alleviated by a warm foot bath, which 
draws the blood away from the gums. If the latter are very much 
swollen prick or lance them to let the blood flow. This will some- 
times give immediate relief. A cathartic to make the bowels move 
actively lessens the blood in the gum, and is especially useful when 
the toothache lasts for several days. 

Inflamed gums- — The following cooling mouth wash is very sooth- 
ing : Take chlorate of potash, one part ; water, sixteen parts ; let the potash 
dissolve. Swallow one teaspoonful of this mixture every hour, and be- 
tween doses take a mouthful occasionally, holding it a minute, then 



28 PRESCRIPTIONS FOR THE GUMS. 

spitting it out. If the gum swells and there is throbbing pain, which 
is a sign that pus or matter is forming, poultice the gum with a 
roasted fig or raisin, but never poultice the face over a swollen gum; 
to do so is to draw the pus to the surface through the cheek, leaving a 
disfiguring scar. 

Inflamed, spongy or ulcerated gums. — 1. Take borax, two scruples; 
honey, one fluid ounce; sage tea, four fiaid ounces; mix and shake till 
the borax is dissolved. Einse the mouth frequently. 

2. Another prescription which sometimes succeeds when the first 
one fails, is this : Powdered nutgalls, two drachms ; powdered Peruvian 
bark, two drachms; powdered orris root, one drachm; infusion of roses, 
four fluid ounces. Mix; let it stand a day or two, then strain. Use it 
the same as No. 1. 

Mouth-ivash for foetid breath and inflamed or ulcerated gums. — 
Tincture of rhatany, three fluid ounces; cologne water, six fluid ounces; 
carbolic acid, 95 per cent., one-half fluid drachm; oil wintergreen, ten 
drops. Mix and apply to the gums with a soft brush after each meal 
and at bed time. 

Tooth-powder. — Mix together equal parts of prepared chalk, 
powdered orris root and scrapings of castile soap. 

Tooth-soap. — Ennis' fragrant antiseptic tooth-soap is the best 
article of the kind, without exception, for cleansing and purifying the 
mouth and teeth. 

To stop bleeding after extracting a tooth. — Ordinarily the 
bleeding will stop in a few moments without any special attention. 
Cold water held in the mouth or salt placed in the socket from which 
the tooth was taken, will be the only measures needed except in cases 
which belong to the class called " bleeders." There are some families 
whose members bleed dangerously from the slightest scratch or cut. 
Such people run a great risk in having a tooth taken out; others bleed 
less easily from slight injuries, and are not aware of this peculiarity in 
their own case until a tooth is extracted. It is always advisable in 
these cases to call a doctor, because so much blood is usually lost before 
the flow is permanently checked, they need medical advice to recover 
their strength. In some instances bleeding ceases soon after extrac- 
tion, but several hours later when the patient is sleeping it begins 
again ; before a doctor is found and the blood flow stopped, the 
strength is so much reduced as to cause great anxiety as to recovery. 
The following may be tried till the doctor comes: Make a roll of cob- 



HEMORRHAGE AFTER EXTRACTION OE TEETH. 29 

web large enough to fill the cavity, pack it in firmly with a knitting 
needle, hair pin or anything handy. Pack above this wads of cotton 
batting, until the space is so filled that the tooth above or below it will 
press hard against it when the mouth is closed. Fasten the jaws 
firmly together by a handkerchief tied on top of the head. Instead of 
the cobweb, a wad of cotton dipped in any of the following substances 
that can be had, may be used: Solution of persulphate of iron, nut- 
galls, pulverized alum or tannin. Whatever is used, keep it in place 
until all bleeding has stopped, and do not remove the part packed in 
the socket for twenty-four hours. 



30 THE OUTEB WALLS OF OUR HOUSE. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE OUTER WALLS OF OUR HOUSE.-THE MUSCLES, THE SKIN 
AND ITS CARE.-CLOTHING. 

Having examined the frame -work of our house, the next structures 
to claim our attention are those which inclose it, and conceal it from 
view. The bones are held together and covered by flesh which is made 
up of muscle, fat and a substance which binds the muscles together, called 
sometimes cellular, sometimes areolar tissue. This is in the form of a thin, 
glistening membrane — the same the butcher draws over the carcass of a 
sheep to make it look tempting. A peculiarity of this membrane is that it 
allows air or fluids to pass through it very readily. It can be blown up 
so as to increase the size of the body enormously. Butchers have been 
accused of inflating meat in this way to make it look fat. It is reported 
that the cunning Oriental when he has a particularly lean and bony 
camel to dispose of, and his customer belongs to the less astute Euro- 
pean or American race, inserts a quill between the muscles in the 
side of the animal's neck, and blows it up until it looks plump; this 
makes it uncomfortable and uneasy, its efforts to rid itself of the bur- 
den are called signs of spirit or vigor by its owner. The innocent 
purchaser is astounded on seeing the animal the next morning to 
find it scarcely more than a bag of bones. A wound in the chest or at 
the root of the neck, which allows air to reach the cellular tissue, is a 
very serious matter. Every breath taken into the lungs, at the same 
time draws air into this tissue, and the whole body will puff up so as 
to almost, if not quite, cut off breathing for want of room for the lungs 
to expand. Such a wound must be immediately covered by a thick pad 
of many layers of cloth, or, when the accident occurs in the fields, a 
handkerchief filled with grass or clay must be pressed into the wound 
to close it completely, and bound securely there. It must not be re- 
moved, even for examining the wound until a surgeon arrives. 

The cellular tissue not only binds fat and muscles together, but it 
contains a fluid which moistens the muscles so that they glide over each 
other without friction. In certain diseased states this fluid is enor- 
mously increased; this is the condition known as dropsy. The disease 



EQUILIBRIUM OF MUSCLES. 31 

which gives rise to this accumulation may be located in the heart, the 
kidneys, the liver, or in the nervous system. Muscles are bundles of 
flesh plaited over the bone, and their structure may be seen by examin- 
ing a piece of boiled beef. Each muscle is a band formed of numerous 
fibres or threads, .which, during life, are elastic like india rubber. Each 
end of the longer ones is fastened to a bone by a stout white cord,, 
called a sinew. Every muscle has an antagonist; that is, one which 
acts in opposition to it. For example, the arm is bent at the elbow by 
the contraction of a certain muscle. As this draws up its opponent is 
stretched out. These act according to our will; therefore, when we 
have no further need of a bended arm, the muscle which drew it up 
relaxes. The one on the stretch now contracts, and the arm is brought 
back to the straight position, where it is held by the opposing muscles. 
When a bone is broken it is drawn apart by them, and the most diffi- 
cult part of treating broken bones is to restrain the action of the 
muscles upon them after they are set. For this reason they are firmly 
bandaged, after being fastened between stiff, unyielding supports, or 
splints, so that the muscles cannot move them. All our motions are 
produced by the contraction and relaxation of muscles; the more we 
exercise them, the stronger and tougher they become. In some coun- 
tries messages are carried by runners, the muscles of whose legs 
become like whip cords. The effect of not using them enough is to 
makp them soft and weak. We have proof of this in the state of a 
limb that has been bandaged a long time to allow a broken bone to 
unite. The muscles are wasted, and their natural strength is regained 
slowly, and is not completely restored until the bone is firm enough to 
be used like its mate. Persons who have been confined to their beds a 
long time with sickness arise with weak muscles. Should they attempt 
to do the hard work to which they were accustomed in health, to 
take long walks, or lift heavy objects, they are liable to do themselves 
lasting injury. Mothers especially need to be cautioned against lifting 
their children while they are recovering from an illness that has 
greatly weakened them. Exercise according to present strength is the' 
only safe rule to follow. It must not be measured by what one can do 
when perfectly well, nor must one person be guided by what another 
does in the matter of exercise. Ambitious women who do their own 
housework often injure themselves in trying to keep up with others. 
It may not be agreeable to see the neighbor's washing on the line early 
Monday morning, before one is half done with her own, yet it is better 



32 CURVATURE OF THE SPINE. 

that the washing be delayed until the next day, or still later in the 
week, than that the woman upon whom 1 the comfort of the family de- 
pends be overworked or disabled for the empty glory of excelling her 
neighbor. 

The spine is held erect by a very strong muscle passing down the 
back, braced by others passing from the spine to the ribs. Lack of 
suitable exercise weakens these muscles. In children the same thing 
follows from dyspepsia or unsuitable diet. The spine is not properly 
held in place; it becomes bent, twisted, or distorted, making a hunch- 
back. Walking, playing active games, and every kind of labor which 
moves all parts of the body, strengthen these muscles. Those who sit 
most of the time, who walk little and slowly, all who lead inactive lives, 
have weak backs. Such people frequently sprain their back, producing 
a lasting injury by sudden violent exertion, to which they are not ac- 
customed. A lady who had never done any hard work in her life, and 
very little of any kind, saw a lamp overturned. Fearing the house 
would burn, she ran down a short flight of stairs to the kitchen, 
caught up a large pailful of water, ran up and extinguished the 
flames, then fainted from the exertion. She injured her spine by this 
act so severely that it was several years before she recovered suffi- 
ciently to walk about the room. Those who walk erect can walk far- 
ther without fatigue than those who stoop. Children should be 
taught to stand erect. Their shoes should be frequently examined, to 
see that the heels are the same height, and if one be knocked off it 
should be immediately replaced. A small difference in the height of a 
heel, or thickness of a sole, the habit of standing or sitting on one 
foot, or any practice which keeps the soles of the feet or the hips at 
different heights long at once, will lead to curvature of the spine, or hip 
disease, in some constitutions. The reason is. that the muscles on one half 
the body have extra weight thrown upon them, they gradually grow 
stronger than their opponents on the other half, and draw that portion 
of the body which they control to their own side. Shoulder braces are 
a poor device at best. They may hold the shoulders up while worn, 
but as they keep the weak muscles from being used, the shoulders fall 
forward again when they are removed. The better way to straighten 
the shoulders is first to ascertain what is making them rounded or 
crooked. Whatever it may be, it must be remedied, and the muscles 
trained so as to overcome the unequal strength of opposing sets. It 
takes more than four hundred muscles to complete the human body. 



TIME FOR OUT-DOOR EXERCISE. 



33 



Every movement calls into play a certain number of them. To acquire 
perfect control over them requires regular and repeated effort. First 
trials are feeble and irregular, like those of a child learning to walk. 
Compare the first specimens of a school boy's writing with his work 
after he has become an expert penman. It is practice — which means, 
in this instance, exercise — that has improved his work. 

By constantly repeating the same motions they learn to obey the 
will, and this gives skill. Reading, speaking, singing, the use of tools, 
all depend upon muscles, and exercise is the only way to make them 
strong, supple, and obedient. A person whose muscles are well trained 
will do a certain amount of work with less fatigue than one in whom 
they are untrained; a clerk, or copyist, will write steadily for ten to 
twelve hours more easily than one who seldom writes can pen a short 
letter. Exercise should be regular and frequent; the body needs it as 
much as it needs food. That form of exercise is best which calls into 
action the muscles that have been idle. The shoemaker sits all day 
using the muscles of the upper part of the body; he will be healthier if 
he takes a certain amount of walking exercise, or engages in games 
that make him run or jump. The custom among farmers of working 
extremely hard for several days, then spending a day or two in idle- 
ness, is not a- good one. It is better to do less in a day and divide the 
work evenly among a greater number of days. 

The best time for out-of-door exercise is in the morning, when 
the air is pure, and after the ground is dry. It should not be taken 
immediately after a hearty meal. During exercise all muscles should 
be free to contract or relax as they will. Tight corsets, or waist bands, 
or any arrangement of the clothing to hinder the flow of blood through 
its course are harmful. Pressure on muscles prevents their growth 
and reduces their size, so that a lady accustomed to a tight corset feels 
that she cannot do without it, because it seems to her that without its 
support she " shall fall all to pieces." A woman who sews steadily 
for many hours exhausts the muscles of the back and right arm; they 
ache, which means that they are crying for rest and food; they have been 
used up faster than they are renewed; they are bankrupt for the time 
being. She will accomplish more to stop sewing before this stage is 
reached, and do other work that will call into play other groups of 
muscles while these rest. The wood-cutter saws awhile, then splits; 
he does this because he has learned he can do more work by changing 
occasionally. A feeble woman who stands a long time ironing or 



34 EXEKCISE. 

making bread and pastry, finds herself, at night, worn out and suffer- 
ing. She wonders why such work is harder upon her than shopping, 
visiting, or playing croquet, or other out-door games. One reason is 
that the housework causes an over-use of certain sets of muscles which 
bear the strain of standing in one position a long time ; another is that 
pleasant mental occupation, joined with exercise, makes it doubly 
beneficial. In the latter circumstances change of scene, meeting other 
people, the pleasurable excitement, all help on the effects of the 
physical exercise; while the open air, in which part of this exercise is 
necessarily carried on, is an added reason why a woman can endure 
more when she goes out from home for a day of pleasure-seeking, or 
business, than in the routine of "monotonous housework." 

Exercise strengthens by carrying more blood to the part, but there 
is a limit to the benefit to be gained by exercise. A ride or a walk of a 
mile may do good, when twice as far will produce exhaustion and 
harm. No matter how small the strength, that must be the measure of 
exercise which will be safe. Relaxation must follow contraction, and 
it must last as long to allow perfect recuperation. A boy compelled 
to hold a book out at arm's length as a penalty suffers cruelly. In 
one case the arm was useless after a protracted punishment of this 
kind by a brutal teacher. Children at school need frequent intermissions 
to rest their backs. Over-use of a muscle is followed first by fatigue, 
next by cramps and, lastly, loss of power. Those who write steadily 
day after day for years, always holding the pen the same way, are 
liable to have the disease known as "writer's cramp," or "scrivener's 
palsy." There are other occupations which produce palsy of a particu- 
lar group of muscles, such as type-writing, telegraphy, dentistry, etc. 
The brain power, or that part of it which controls these muscles, fails 
from exhaustion; it can no longer spur them up to their work. Rest 
and change of employment are demanded, and are the only hope of 
recovery. Exercise which leaves one tired and exhausted has been 
too severe, too long continued, taken in impure air, or taken when 
rest is needed. When one is exhausted from labor which employed 
only a part of the muscles, it is a mistake to engage in exercise to 
strengthen the others until after thoroughly resting and eating. The 
surplus stock of muscle-power having been used up, a new supply 
must be laid in before calling on the blood to furnish more to the 
unused muscles. Those recovering from illness often bring on re- 
lapse by exercising improperly. A sick person can sit up longer in a 



THE CUTICLE. 35 

carriage than in an easy-chair, or a room where he has lain sick. The 
pure air out of doors makes the difference. Muscles are stronger if 
exercised in the light; people who live in dark rooms are less vigorous 
than others, just as plants that grow in the shade are more feeble than 
those exposed to the light. Kitchens and shops especially should be 
light, for the sake of those who do the indoor work of the world. It 
is evident that if we would preserve the power of our muscles we must 
not over-tax them; but as we go on, it will become more and more ap- 
parent that not until " thought shall need no brain, and nearly four 
hundred organs of motion shall cease to constitute the principal por- 
tion of the human body, can we dispense with muscular exertion." 

Th.6 Skin. — Inclosing the muscles and the bones to which they 
are attached, and enveloping every part outside of the body, is the 
tissue familiarly known as the skin. It is made up of two layers. The 
derma or true skin is tough, flexible and highly elastic, in order to 
defend the internal parts from violence. This layer contains a net- 
work of blood vessels and nerves, also three kinds of glands or bags; a 
very good idea of one kind of a gland may be formed by examining 
under a magnifying glass the little spaces in an orange rind in which 
the oil is formed. A gland, then, is a little sac, bag or tube in which 
something is made, and these lying in the derma are no exception; for 
in one set the sweat is formed, in another the hair, and in the last a 
substance like suet, which keeps the skin soft, oily and flexible. The 
outside layer of the skin is called the epidermis, or cuticle, also the 
scarf-skin. This last we are constantly shedding in the form of scales; 
a snake sheds it all in one piece, and only once a year. If you have 
seen the skin just cast by a snake, you have a good idea of how the 
human cuticle would look if shed all at one time. It forms a defen- 
sive covering to the surface of the true skin, and limits the evapora- 
tion of watery vapor. It has no feeling, and can be scraped or shaved 
off without pain from thickened places. It varies in thickness on 
different parts. Where it is exposed to pressure and friction it is 
thick, hard or horny, as may be seen on the palms of the hands and 
soles of the feet. Corns are thickened spots of cuticle, produced by 
friction or pressure. Their treatment will be described elsewhere. 

A blister causes a separation between the cuticle and the true skin, 
If this thin covering be broken so as to let the air in, there is apt to be 
pain and inflammation; to prevent this, open a blister by running a 
needle between the cuticle and true skin, beginning half an inch or less 



36 



THE COLOR OF THE SKIN. 



from the edge of the blister, so as to make a passage for the water 
from it through a little space of sound skin. This way of opening a 
blister causes no pain whatever. 

The color of the skin depends upon the cuticle; the black color of 
the negro, and the tawny hue of the oriental are due to the presence 
of pigment in the cuticle. 




n h T IG> t SECTION 0F SKIN GREATLY MAGNIFIED. 

A. Cuticle, or Scarf-skin. 

a. b. Rete Mucosum, the layer which contains the color 

c.d.e. Fat stored in the skin. 

f. Sebaceous gland which furnishes the suet or oil for the outside of the skin. The 

rn>, . 01 ! ^f see out through the same opening as the hair. 

I he sweat glands may be known by the coiled tubes passing up through the cuticle. 

Parts that are liable to be injured by dust are covered by a delicate 
sensitive skin, usually called a membrane— another proof that our body 



THE SWEAT GLANDS. 37 

was designed by an intelligent Creator, and not the offspring of blind 
chance. Dust would obscure the sight, therefore dust causes pain or 
irritation ; this makes the tears flow, and they wash the dust away. If 
dust entered the lungs, it would stop the passage of air through the air- 
cells, and we would die; therefore the membrane lining the tubes lead- 
ing to the lungs is very sensitive, and a cough or sneeze at once dis- 
lodges an intruder: the finer dust that does not excite a cough is re- 
moved in another way. The membrane is thickly covered with the 
finest hairs, which are in constant waving motion in such a direction as 
to move the dust and mucus upward toward and into the throat. 

How the sweat is thrown off. — The sweat glands are in the form of a 
very minute tube, coiled up in a tiny space, as shown in the illustration, 
and their business is to separate from the blood some of the water and 
wastes with which it is loaded. One end of the coil opens on the 
cuticle, and may be seen through a magnifying glass as a minute hole. 
These openings are very numerous. Dr. Wilson carefully counted the 
holes or pores on the palm of the hand, and found that they made 73 J 
feet of drainage in every square inch of skin. They are not so plenty 
everywhere; but some one who likes to figure out odd problems has 
made out that if all the sweat glands could be straightened out and 
joined, to make one tube, it would be 28 miles long. Each gland is 
constantly throwing off sweat, but it cannot be seen except when it 
becomes very profuse. In winter as well as summer, something like 
two pints ought to be thrown off every twenty-four hours. This 
amount is greatly increased, when it collects in drops, and rolls off, as 
happens during violent exercise, or on a very warm summer's day. 
The sweat, or perspiration, as some people prefer to call it, is a deadly 
poison, and if a little of it were injected under the skin of a rabbit it 
would kill the animal very quickly. Anything that our bodies have 
once used and thrown aside becomes a poison to them, and must be 
disposed of outside, or the consequences are to be dreaded. The result 
of sealing up the pores and thus closing up the 28 miles of sewer 
(which the sweat glands may be called) was demonstrated a great 
many years ago in Eome. There was to be a grand procession, and a 
little boy was selected to appear as an angel. His whole body was 
covered with gold leaf, and a pair of golden wings was fastened upon 
his shoulders. He looked very lovely, but in a few hours the poor child 
was seized with convulsions and died. Closing the pores and prevent- 
in^ the escape of the sweat poisoned him to death. There are a great 



So AIR AND MOISTURE PASS THROUGH THE SKIN. 

many people being slowly poisoned by the partial sealing up of their 
pores through neglect of bathing. The moisture from the sweat glands 
is made sticky by the material from the sebaceous glands, which make 
the suet or fatty substance for oiling the skin; the dust from the air 
settles upon it, making a paste that drying partially seals up the pores. 
Besides imprisoning a large amount of poisonous matter, this paste 
offers a suitable nesting- place for some kinds of germs; bacteria are 
found abundantly upon the skins of people who seldom bathe. Those 
who exercise actively, so as to make the sweat roll off in drops, wash 
off the pasty coating sufficiently to keep the pores open; but those who 
take little exercise, and do not keep the skin clean by bathing, are 
certain to suffer for their negligence. 

Water will not mix with the oily matter of the skin, and therefore 
soap is used to dissolve it. The skin becomes dry, harsh or scaly when 
no oil is formed, or when it is washed off frequently with too strong 
soap or too much alkali, such as ammonia, borax or soda. These 
should never be used in the water of a bath for healthy people, although 
they are very useful in some diseases to cleanse the skin when feverish, 
broken out with pimples or a rash, as in scarlet fever, measles, etc. 
Vinegar and water used as a bath will counteract the effect of too 
strong alkalies; it is also very grateful to the skin when hot, dry and 
feverish. 

It is important to know that both air and lipuids can pass through 
the pores into the body. Sailors cast away at sea without food or 
water, have kept themselves alive for days by wetting their clothes 
with sea- water; the moisture passes through the pores, but the salt can 
not do so. 

Life has sometimes been saved, where a patient was very sick and 
could eat nothing, by immersing his body in a milk bath several 
times a day for several days until the crisis was past. A little milk 
passes through the skin, and helps nourish the system. 

It is very curious that checking the action of the skin, whether 
done by taking cold, by lack of cleanliness, or in other ways, has a differ- 
ent effect on different people. In one it will produce cough, in another 
headache, and in others it is dyspepsia, diarrhoea, constipation, leucor- 
rhoea, stiff joints, rheumatic pains, irritation or inflammation of the 
lungs, stomach, liver or kidneys. Those accustomed to warm rooms or 
climate take cold more easily than others; they should not neglect to 
put on more clothing toward night, in the season when the days are 



TEMPERATURE OF THE BODY. 39 

warm and nights cool; when changes are made from thick to thinner 
garments, they should always be made in the morning. 

The perspiration accomplishes something more than to carry off 
impurities. You have noticed that in a very hot day, the air will be 
made cooler and more pleasant, if water be sprinkled over the floor. 
Scientific men have a very learned explanation of the way evaporation 
cools the air; those who are interested will find it in any treatise on nat- 
ural philosophy; all we need to say about it is, that evaporation of the 
sweat cools the body. There are little gate-keepers placed at each pore, 
or, in other words, a minute nerve is on guard to control the flow of the 
sweat glands. During exercise, and hot weather, when the heat of the 
body rises, these nerves open the doors wide, and spur up the glands 
to pour out moisture freely, which carries off the extra heat; in cold 
weather, or when the body is chilled, they close the pores to prevent 
loss of heat. The temperature of the body is, therefore, uniform the 
year round, and the same in the frigid as in the torrid zone — varying 
no more than one deg. from 98 \ degs. Fah., so long as a person is well. 
Owing to the perfect regulation of the internal temperature, the human 
body is enabled to safely endure astonishing variations of heat and 
. cold. It is said that a certain sculptor in Germany repeatedly entered 
a furnace heated to 600 degs. to examine some work he had in it. In 
some parts of Europe, girls enter the ovens where bread is baking to 
turn the loaves, without suffering any inconvenience. Men work 
steadily in iron mills where the heat is overpowering to those not accus- 
tomed to it ; while, on the other hand, man has proved that long exposure 
to a temperature far below the freezing point need not destroy life, as 
witness the experiences of the Arctic explorers and whalers. We have 
pointed out that closing the pores imprisons material detrimental to the 
health, and now the question naturally arises, What becomes of it 
when the pores are closed to preserve the necessary warmth ? The 
answer will be apparent when we study the organs of the body. 

The Bath. — The question of bathing is one that is often dis- 
cussed, yet the physician is continually astonished at the gross negli- 
gence of the bath in families of intelligence, and who are in other re- 
spects watchful in regard to health. Indeed, outside the large cities it is 
the exception to find any provision made for bathing, even in the better 
class of houses. Fortunately, the lack of bath-tubs and bath-rooms, 
however inconvenient, does not make bathing an impossibility. A basin 
of water, soap, a towel, a wash-rag may be had everywhere, and with 



40 HEALTHFUL BATHING. 

these the skin can be thoroughly cleansed. The frequency of bathing 
depends upon circumstances. Many people take a daily bath with 
apparent benefit, although it is questionable if this practice is to be 
recommended in health. There is such a thing as making the skin 
too sensitive: if mankind had been intended for water animals the skin 
would have been differently constructed; as it is, too frequent applica- 
tion of water, either by too frequent baths or remaining long in the 
water, irritates the skin, often producing troublesome eruptions, which 
are not, as generally supposed, a sign that impurities are being drawn 
out of the blood to the surface, but are the result of the loss of protec- 
tion which the sebum affords, from washing it away as fast as formed, 
also combined with irritation of the nerves at the surface. 

All people, without exception, should bathe the whole surface of the 
body with good soap and water at least once a week. If there be any 
disagreeable odor to the skin, or accumulation of dirt from any cause, 
the bath is needed oftener than this. The reason why it seems to dis- 
agree with many people is owing to the way it is taken. A very com- 
mon, but excellent way — not to take a bath is the following : A cool 
room, cool water, removal of all the clothing, moistening of the whole 
body before drying any part of it; and if this plan will not make a 
person chilly, produce a cold, and disagree with the constitution, it 
must be a strong one indeed. 

If possible, a bath should be taken in a warm room, with doors and 
windows closed to shut out draughts. For cleansing, use warm water 
and a good quality of soap. Much of the toilet soap offered for use is 
unfit for the purpose, because of its impure origin; some of it has too 
large a proportion of alkali, which makes the skin dry, harsh and easily 
chap. Skin diseases some times originate in the irritation produced by 
the soap; they are frequently aggravated and prevented from healing by 
it. There are many good soaps to be had, so that a little experimenting 
will enable you to select one that agrees with your skin. If convenient, 
it makes one less liable to take cold to rinse off the soap and water 
with clean, cool water; but the latter alone will not dissolve the pasty 
matters that accumulate on the skin. Rub the skin thoroughly dry before 
putting on clothing. After a bath do not put on next the skin any 
garments that have been worn since they were washed ; they have 
absorbed the vapors from the body, the skin is now in good condition 
to re-absorb them from the clothing — hence your labor will be partially 
wasted. If compelled to take your bath in a cool room, it may be done 



THE HAIR CLOTHING. 41 

safely, if done quickly, by removing the clothing from only one part of 
the body at a time, drying it thoroughly and covering before uncover- 
ing another part. After the bath the skin should be reddened and 
warm; vigorous rubbing or spatting -will do this, unless the circulation 
is very feeble, in which case bathing should never be done in a cooL 
room. 

The hair needs washing as often as the body itself, but it 
should be dried quickly to prevent an attack of catarrh. Soap is apt 
to make the scalp scaly and the hair harsh, besides it fades some colors. 
The yellow of an egg rubbed into the scalp and over the hair makes a 
thick lather with soft water; it cleanses the scalp, leaving the hair soft 
and slightly oily; and it is a most useful application to the head. No 
soap should be used with it, neither borax nor ammonia. 

Because the blood is brought to the surface by a properly conducted 
bath, it is removed from other organs, therefore it should not be taken 
within an hour after eating, lest it interfere with digestion. Feeble 
persons are made sick by disregarding this rule; neither should a bath 
be indulged in while the body is heated by active exercise ; wait till it 
cools off first. 

The universal prejudice in favor of washing an infant all over every 
day is hard to account for. The practice has washed out of existence 
scores of feeble little lives. Why a babe, clad in clean garments, that 
are changed daily, exposed to nothing which can soil its body except 
its own excretions, should need a daily scrubbing, while a grown person — 
its own mother, for example, engaged in cleaning the house, the soiled 
garments of the family, and other sources of filth, needs a bath only 
rarely, is one of the problems no doctor is able to figure out. This is 
not saying that an infant does not need frequent attention; but it does 
not need to have its whole body uncovered, exposed to a chill, and made 
miserable every day to keep it in a clean and wholesome condition. 

Clothing plays an important part in promoting our health, to say 
nothing of the influence of fashion on mankind. The choice of it is 
governed more by custom, or caprice, than by any definite idea of the 
purpose it is to serve. In consequence, we are accustomed to seeing 
people during the dog-days overloaded with garments intended for 
cold weather, and when the thermometer is nearing zero, it is no 
unusual spectacle to see suits which would be very appropriate for 
summer, worn with blue lips and shivering forms, by fashion's slaves. 
The strange and clumsy forms of garments chosen by health reformers 



42 MATERIAL FOR CLOTHING. 

have prejudiced that portion of the world who believe that " looks are 
quite as important as comfort " against any special study of the useful 
and the healthful in the selection of garments. There never was a 
time in the history of the world, when it was possible for both men and 
women to combine in their costumes so many of the elements of health 
and comeliness, without appearing peculiar, as at present. There is 
no excuse but that of ignorance, for dressing so as to endanger the 
health at any time of year; yet notice, at the next public gathering you 
attend, the proportion of people comfortably and suitably clad for the 
temperature then prevailing, — you will find it small. The first object 
of clothing for cold weather is to prevent loss of heat; in warm 
weather, to promote it: at both seasons it must provide for the escape 
of the perspiration, and must not accumulate dampness from the 
atmosphere. Colds are the origin of the great majority of fatal 
diseases, and most colds arise from sudden chilling of some portion of 
the body which the clothing should have protected The question of 
selection of clothing bears, then, directly upon the prevention of dis- 
ease and the preservation of life. The materials commonly used may 
be classified in the order of their merit as follows : 

Linen is a good conductor of heat, therefore favors its escape from 
the body when worn next the skin, but it cools the surface quickly, and 
is no protector against sudden chills. 

Cotton conducts heat less rapidly than linen, and is therefore 
warmer. It absorbs moisture, thereby hindering evaporation and 
cooling of the surface. 

Woolen is a non-conductor of heat. It takes up moisture slowly, 
therefore is a good protector against damp. It dries slowly when 
moist, hence it cools the body slowly. As an equalizer of temperature, 
and a protector of the surface from sudden chill, wool stands at the 
head of our usual wearing fabrics, and should be worn next the skin 
when it can be tolerated. 

Clothing should be as light in weight as it can be made, and, at the 
same time, provide sufficient protection. One part may be overloaded, 
while other parts are scantily clad The practice of dressing children 
with nothing but stockings between the knee and foot in cold weather 
is a positive cruelty. It is no uncommon spectacle to see young misses 
wearing hoods to protect the head, thick warm mittens for the hands, 
comfortable cloaks and overshoes, with the space between the ankle 
■and knee covered only by a single thickness of stocking. Boys are 



CLOTHING SHOULD BE ADAPTED TO THE WEATHER. 43 

frequently dressed in a like manner. On the other hand, it is possible 
to wrap up too much. Thick coverings, by retaining the warmth, in- 
crease the perspiration. This produces open pores, a soft and sensitive 
skin, which is easily chilled. Those who have tried it know that the 
habit of bundling up the neck, if begun as winter opens, must be kept 
up until spring, or the penalty of sore throat and severe cold will be 
exacted for any neglect to do so. If the neck never receives extra 
wrapping, it is rarely affected by exposure to the weather. Those who 
are subject to sore throats on slight exposure can "toughen them" by 
bathing the neck in cool water each morning. In childhood and old 
age the body needs warmer clothing than during middle life. Flannel 
is best for the two extremes in life. The majority of old people die of 
pneumonia, or other complaints brought on by sudden chilling of the 
body. Common sense is a far better guide than custom in the selection 
of clothing adapted to our wants. In our climate, where sudden 
changes of temperature are the rule, any ironclad law as to what shall 
be worn during the season is out of place. Those who lay aside flan- 
nels for the summer should not do so until nearly the first of June, 
while October, at latest, should find them worn again. Wise people, 
who believe that prevention is better than cure, change their clothing 
from thinner to thicker, or the opposite, immediately upon a change of 
temperature, without reference to the name of the season. 

Garments should not be tight about the neck, the waist or limbs, 
because compression at any of those places interferes with the circula- 
tion, producing in some part of its course a damming up of the blood, 
and congestion, as the water in a river is pent up and spreads out over 
the low places when a mill-dam is thrown across it. Any part is said to 
be congested when a larger amount of blood than usual is crowded into 
it, and is stagnant. 

Tight bands around the throat produce flushed face, or congestion of 
the brain; tight bands about the waist produce congestion of some of 
the organs. If the heart is weak, it increases the liability to serious 
disease of that organ; piles have been known to be brought on by the 
same cause. Tight garters, or, indeed, any garters which encircle the 
limbs, cause cold feet, bloating of the feet, and favor varicose veins. 
Tight boots and gloves make cold feet and hands. 

The color of clothing for those who are little exposed to the ex- 
tremes of weather is of little consequence, but those who must endure 
the direct rays of the hot sun while at work, or actively exercising, 



44 PREVENTION OF COLDS. 

can keep cooler in white garments; gray ranks next, while black is the 
most uncomfortable. Those exposed to cold winds are best protected 
by leather or India-rubber coverings. The latter are disagreeable when 
worn long at a time, because evaporation of perspiration is prevented, 
and the clothing becomes saturated, clammy and chilly. Woolen cloth 
permits the wind to blow through, but it is the most comfortable to wear 
under India-rubber or gossamer garments. Those who are unexpect- 
edly exposed to a keen, cutting wind, without sufficient covering, will 
find great comfort by inserting a folded newspaper beneath the outer 
garment over the parts most exposed. A folded newspaper, placed 
over the chest outside the undershirt, is one of the best chest protectors. 
If the lungs are weak, another paper should be placed over the back 
part of the chest, extending from the lower points of the shoulder 
blades to the neck The old idea that when the clothes are damp they 
must be worn until dry "to prevent taking cold" is true or false 
according to circumstances. Hardy persons, accustomed to out-door 
exposure, seldom suffer from wetting of the clothes while at work, or 
exercising; but let those unused to such a life beware of damp gar- 
ments. If they become wet at a distance from home, walk to some 
place where they can be exchanged for dry ones. If unable to walk, 
then dry wraps should be put on over the wet ones, or a gossamer or other 
protector, to prevent evaporation. The body should be rubbed vigor- 
ously when drying it before putting on dry clothes, and the feet should 
be warmed. If chilly sensations follow, take hot drinks to restore the 
surface heat. Common tea, ginger tea, or mint tea are among the 
best restoratives. Children attending country schools in the winter 
frequently suffer severely from the thoughtlessness of parents and 
teachers. In rainy weather, during thaws, and where the way leads 
over wet, muddy roads, the feet are almost always damp by the time 
the school-house is reached. Once there, all crowd around the stove; 
there is little of courtesy or kindness shown by the stronger to the 
weaker, consequently those in the greatest need of warmth are least apt to 
receive it. School can not be conducted with the children gathered 
about the stove; therefore, while still wet and chilly, at the opening 
hour, they must go to their seats. If parents were thoughtful they 
would provide a dry pair of stockings, an extra pair of shoes, and 
wraps that will completely envelop the clothing for damp and cold 
weather. If the teachers understood the needs of their little flock, 
they would see that the dry stockings and shoes are put on, and that the 



COMFORT AND HEALTH FAVOR ECONOMY. 45 

damp ones are placed where they can dry before they are needed 
again. The plea of extra expense urged against this plan is senseless ; 
the extra doctor's bills which a family usually incurs during the year 
from the cause referred to, will more than buy everything necessary for 
the comfortable and healthy clothing of the school children. 



46 THE SERVANTS OF THE BODY. 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE SERVANTS OF THE BODY. 

The work of building up, and keeping our bodies swept and 
garnished, is done by numerous servants, to which the name organs is 
given. An organ is an instrument which does something ; for example, 
the eye sees, the lungs breathe, the stomach digests. To describe 
and locate all the organs of the body, and at the same time give a 
clear idea of the varied work they do, would require a large volume; 
our present space only permits a description of those which are some- 
what under our control, and therefore are healthy or unhealthy 
according to the way we use them. 

The cavity of the body is divided into two compartments by the 
diaphragm, already described among the muscles. This thin partition 
wall is similar to the floor which divides a house into two stories. In 
the upper story, or chest, are placed the lungs and heart. These are 
vital organs; a slight injury to them will destroy us, and therefore they 
are carefully protected by bony but elastic walls. Below the diaphragm 
is the abdomen, in which are placed the liver, stomach, spleen, pancreas, 
kidneys, bladder, intestines and sexual organs. As the size of some of 
these organs vary considerably, according as they are full or empty, 
they are covered in front by the elastic muscles which form the walls 
of the abdomen; the latter will stretch out to accommodate the increase 
in size of the organs within, and contract as the organs diminish. The 
diaphragm is elastic, therefore movable; when a full breath is taken 
the lungs expand, and descend nearly two inches, to accommodate 
their increased size, the ribs rise, the diaphragm descends and draws 
down the heart nearly an inch and a half, consequently the contents 
of the abdomen are pushed down and outward. As the breath goes out 
the diaphragm rises, the ribs fall, the heart returns to its place and 
the lungs are compressed to force out the air. 

The larynx is the organ of the voice, and is placed at the upper part 
of the air passage at the upper and fore part of the neck; when promi- 
nent it forms the Adam's Apple. Connected with it is the trachea or 
air tube (windpipe), which is about 4 \ inches long; near the upper 



CHOKING FROM SUBSTANCES FALLING INTO THE WINDPIPE. 47 

end of the breast bone it divides into two branches called bronchi, 
which enter the lungs — the one on the right being about an inch long, 
the one on the left nearly two inches. Any object dropping into the 
larynx may be carried down the trachea, and if small enough may pass 
on through the bronchi into the lung. The trachea varies from three- 
quarters to one inch in diameter ; the right bronchial tube being 
larger than its fellow, the object, if it passes through the trachea, will 
nearly always be drawn into the right lung. The upper opening of the 
air passage is guarded by a thin, gristly valve (epiglottis), placed behind 
the tongue ; while breathing this valve stands up, the tip curving 
toward the tongue, but when ready to swallow the valve is drawn 
downward and backward so as to completely close the larynx. Those 
who laugh or talk while swallowing food or drink, are very liable to 
have it "go down the wrong way" — that is, the valve is pulled two 
ways at once; the breath must come and go in talking or laughing, 
which draws it up; to make a passage for the food into the swallowing 
tube it is drawn down, and between the two, like "the politician on 
the fence," it fails them both. Choking usually comes from food 
falling into the windpipe; something must be done at once, for in two 
or three minutes the patient will be dead if not relieved. If a child be 
choked, and the object is small like a button, a cherry-stone, etc., lift him 
suddenly by the feet with face down; if the object does not instantly 
drop out, slap him sharply on the back of the shoulders; but while 
doing this watch closely, so that if the object drops down and lodges in 
the opening of the windpipe you can hook it out with the finger. If 
the object which excites choking be very small, like coffee grounds, give 
snuff to produce sneezing; a little cayenne, or even black pepper, will 
do as well. After diphtheria and some other throat disorders, the 
swallowing muscles are relaxed, and occasionally partially paralyzed, in 
which case great care must be given to the act of swallowing. It will 
not do for such persons to talk and eat at the same time. A chunk of 
meat lodging in tbe throat so as to shut out the air from the lungs has 
many times caused death. This happens now and then at hotel tables. 
In the excitement that follows the patient stands no chance at all to be 
saved; he dies while waiting for the doctor. In such an emergency, 
strike a forcible blow with the open hand on the shoulders. Don't 
wait, but follow this immediately by seizing the tongue with the left 
hand, and with the fore finger of the right hand search for the morsel, 
which must be pulled out. 



48 DANGEB OF DRINKING WHILE LYING DOWN. 

The folly of allowing young children to play with objects that can 
be drawn into the air passages, is forcibly illustrated by the following 
case, which once fell under the observation of the writer. A little boy, 
creeping about the floor, was given an ear of corn for a plaything. 
Suddenly he began to cough violently, grew black in the face, and 
seemed about to strangle. The mother, almost overcome with fright, 
managed to call her husband from the field, but, failing to help the 
little fellow, the doctor was sent for. On his arrival all inquiry failed 
to explain the cause of the trouble, the mother being too much excited 
to remember the fatal plaything. Three days the child lingered on in 
frightful distress, and then died. A post-mortem examination revealed 
a single kernel of corn drawn quite into the right lung, and lodged so 
tightly that it had to be pried out with a knife. A sore throat, when much 
swollen, interferes with the perfect working of this valve, and causes 
great difficulty in swallowing medicine or food. We naturally are in 
an erect position when eating or drinking ; we can swallow safely while 
lying down by attending strictly to our business, but in that position 
there is always more danger of something finding its way into the 
windpipe ; that this is dangerous, Nature promptly shows us by the dis- 
tress and struggle caused to throw it out. When people are uncon- 
scious, very feeble, or incapable of averting this danger, like the 
imbecile or young children, it is unsafe to pour water, medicine or any 
liquid into the mouth while they are lying on their back ; it is quite 
likely to run into the windpipe and strangle them exactly as if they 
were drowned. The following incident, which occurred recently, illus- 
trates this fact. A child nearly a year old had been sick for a fort- 
night, but was recovering, although still very weak. The little one 
was lying in its crib, having just wakened from a nap, when the 
mother saw the doctor drive up, which reminded her that a dose of 
medicine was due. She hastily poured a teaspoonful into the child's 
mouth without raising its head ; it strangled instantly, and before the 
doctor could reach the door it was dead. There is no doubt that some 
of the deaths reported as convulsions are caused by the careless prac- 
tice of feeding or dosing a young child while lying on its back. If 
you doubt the truth of these statements, try the experiment of lying 
down on the back, and drinking a glass of water administered from a 
bottle or spoon, or in any other convenient way. Instinctively, if you 
are not on your guard, you will raise the head up before trying to 
swallow. Children at play should not be permitted to hold objects in 
their mouths ; it is a bad habit, which makes an immense amount of 



BRONCHIAL TUBES AIR CELLS. 



49 



trouble first and last. Behind the opening to the air passage lies the 
tube leading to the stomach, of which we shall have something to say 
by-and-by. 

The bronchi or bronchial tubes divide and subdivide into smaller 
and smaller branches (just as the branches of a tree are divided into 




FIG. 5. LEFT LUNG AND AIR TUBES OF THE RIGHT LUNG. 
L. Larynx. C. Bronchial Tube. 

T. Trachea. E. Small Branches of the Bronchial Tube. 

B. Right Bronchus. A. Left Lung. 

smaller and smaller ones, until they become the tiniest twigs ), and 
terminate in minute twigs, about each of which is a cluster of air cells 
like grapes on a stem. A soap bubble is an example of an air cell ; but 
the smallest soap bubble you ever saw is many, many times larger than 
the largest air cell in the lungs, which is 1-70 of an inch in diameter, 
and, taking the smaller ones, it would need 200 of them placed side by 
side to make one inch. The act of taking air into the chest (thorax) 
is called inspiration ; breathing it out, expiration — together they make 
respiration. 



50 THE LUNGS THE HEABT. 

The lungs. — The organs of respiration are the lungs, of which there 
are two ; the one on the right side is about two ounces heavier than 
the one on the left. The weight of both together is about 42 ounces, 
but this varies with the size of the body. They are of light, spongy 
texture, and float upon water. Each lung is inclosed in a double sac, 
or bag — the pleura. One fold of this bag adheres closely to the lung 
substance, the other fold to the walls of the chest, and between the folds 
there is always found a small amount of fluid, which resembles whey. 
It keeps the sac moist, and permits the folds to glide over each other 
without friction. Sometimes a cold affects the pleura, which gives rise 
to the disease called pleurisy, in which the inflammation is sometimes 
so great as to seal the two folds of pleura together. This interferes 
considerably with the action of the lung ever afterward. Sometimes 
the serum, or whey-like fluid between the folds of the pleura, is greatly 
increased by disease, making dropsy of the chest, and occasionally pus 
forms there. In the latter case it has to be drawn off to save life. 

The heart. — Between the lungs lies the heart. This is the most 
important organ in the body. It is small— about the size of the closed 
fist — but from birth to death it works incessantly, waking or sleeping. 
Whether in health or in disease, no matter what other organs are disa- 
bled and quit work, the heart goes steadily on; when it stops life 
ceases. 

It is placed behind the breast-bone obliquely, broad end up; if the 
body were cut in two equal parts through the spine and breast-bone, 
about one-third of the heart would be in the right half, and two-thirds in 
the left. This organ is also inclosed in a double sac, called the peri- 
cardium, which resembles the one surrounding the lungs. There is 
serum formed between the folds, as in the pleura; this serum may 
be increased in quantity by disease, making "dropsy of the heart." 
Rheumatism, when it goes to the heart, settles in this covering. The 
heart is hollow, and is divided by a muscular wall into two halves, 
named, from their position, right and left. This wall is solid in grown 
people, but in babies at birth there is an opening through it, which 
should close up permanently when the child begins to breathe. If it 
does not, circulation is obstructed, making a " blue child." Such a 
one generally lives but a short time, although instances are recorded of 
their having survived from ten to twenty years; but there is always 
great distress in breathing, which is made worse by play or exercise; it 
is a mercy when death comes to end such suffering. Some old nurses 



CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD. 51 

spank a new-born babe when it grows blue in the face; this produces 
a vigorous cry and a full, deep breath, which instantly closes the open- 
ing between the two halves of the heart. This seems like cruel treat- 
ment; it is, however, frequently efficacious if done immediately, but is 
too late after an hour or two. Each half of the heart is divided into two 
chambers — the upper is the auricle ; the lower, the ventricle. They each 
hold about three ounces of blood when filled. The partition which 
divides them contains a valve which opens downward to let the blood 
pass through, but closes to prevent its backward flow. These valves 
act in the same way as the valves in a pump or steam engine. The 
heart is a powerful pump, that sends the blood to all parts of the body. 
The amount of blood in the body at once forms about one-tenth of its 
weight. It has been compared to a river flowing through a town, upon 
which many little boats laden with supplies for the inhabitants, while 
into it are poured the wastes from the kitchens and the refuse of the 
sewers. The blood sent through the body from the heart is bright red 
and pure; it comes back to the heart, dark, red or dirty, with the impuri- 
ties it has gathered up in its course. Only the dirty, dark blood goes 
into the right auricle; only pure, bright, red blood goes into the left. 
The tubes or pipes which carry the blood thrown out of the heart are 
called arteries; the ones which bring it back are the veins. 

The Circulation Of the BlOOd.— The veins which open into 
the auricles are provided with valves which close when they are filled, 
to prevent the backward flow of blood, when they contract to force it 
forward into the ventricles. The dirty blood from all parts of the 
body is brought to the right auricle, which throws it into the right ven- 
tricle, from whence it is carried direct to the lungs, where the impurities 
are burned out by the oxygen in the air cells. This changes it to bright 
red — purifies it; after which it is carried back to the left auricle; this 
contracts, sending it into the left ventricle, which pumps it into all 
parts of the body. The heart makes a sound at each contraction; the 
healthy, natural sound resembles the syllables, rub-dub — the first pro- 
nounced slowly, the second quickly; and between each an interval of 
rest. We shall find, as we go on, rest is no less important than exer- 
cise. Nature has provided that all organs over which we have no con- 
trol, receive both exercise and rest sufficient to keep them in good order 
— unless we interfere with nature in ways that will become apparent 
as the different parts of the body are described. 

It seems very simple, this method in which the blood makes its 



52 GANGRENE ANEURISM. 

rounds; but for ages it was a great mystery, and Harvey, who discovered 
it, was dreadfully persecuted. The ancients believed the arteries con- 
tained air, because they are commonly found empty after death. The 
arteries are very strong pipes, having three coats, internal, middle and 
external. If a large artery is wounded the blood is lost very rapidly ; 
therefore, for their better protection, they are placed deep down against 
the bones, and never lie near the surface, as the veins do. The internal 
coat of the artery is very soft and smooth, to prevent friction from con- 
tact with the stream of blood passing through it. The middle and 
external coats are very elastic; the former lets the artery stretch out to 
increase its diameter, the latter its length. As one lot of blood is 
thrown with great force from the heart, the artery stretches open to re- 
ceive it, but immediately contracts behind it and helps to force it along. 
It is very necessary that these several coats of the arteries be strong 
and elastic; when they lose their elasticity and become weak, the blood 
flows sluggishly. Old people sometimes have lime deposited in the 
coats of the arteries, which makes the walls hard and brittle; their 
blood moves slowly, which causes cold hands and feet. In rare cases 
the arteries become like pipe stems; some of the smaller ones fill up, 
the parts beyond can not be fed by new supplies of blood, and they 
die. This disease is called gangrene, and is most apt to attack 
the feet. Sometimes it creeps up to the knee or higher; after a few 
days a line of separation, perfectly distinct, may be seen between the 
living and dead flesh, when the surgeon has to saw through the bone 
and complete the amputation which Nature has begun. The chapter 
on food will describe how danger from this disease of the arteries may 
be lessened. Aneurism is caused by the giving way of one or more of 
the coats of the arteries. It is brought on by heavy lifting, severe vom- 
iting, or some unusual violent exertion like wrestling. The coat which 
contracts or draws up the artery breaks, leaving only the outside elas- 
tic coat, and the soft lining to hold the blood at that point; these coats 
stretch out more and more, as gradually a large tumor filled with blood 
forms there; they grow thinner from the stretching, and at last, after a 
long time, they give way. and a sudden haemorrhage destroys life. 
There is no use to attempt home treatment for such a disease as this; it 
needs the attention of a skillful surgeon, and if taken in season can 
often be cured. 

As we have seen, the blood is carried out from the heart bright, red 
and pure; it is thrown out by sudden contractions or shutting up of the 



VALVES OF THE VEINS. 



53 



ventricles, and therefore flows by jerks or spurts; it is thrown with a 
force equal to a powerful pump or piston; the rebound from striking the 
elastic coats of the arteries adds to the force with which it is sent for- 
ward, and the most of its way it is helped onward by the force of grav- 
ity. "We have now to examine how it gets back to the heart through a 
different set of pipes. 

The veins have three coats like the arteries, but with this differ- 
ence : owing to the weakness of the middle coat the veins do not 
stand open when cut through, as the arteries do, and they do not con- 
tract to help move on the volume of blood flowing through them. 
This blood which the veins contain is dark colored and loaded with 
waste matters, dumped into it from the various tissues through which 
it has been carried. This makes them show through the skin, dark 





V 


f 

/\ 



PIG. 6. VEINS. 

A. Diagram of rein showing the direction in which the blood naturally passes by the valves 

B. Diagram showing how the valves close to prevent the blood from flowing backward. 

C. The appearance of the outside of an obstructed vein. 

D. Shows how the valves cause the knotted appearance. 

E. A Bection of vein split open and flattened out, showing the valves or pockets attached 

to its walls. 



blue in those places where they lie near the surface. They may be 
plainly seen at the wrist. 

It has to be carried for the most part up hill, or "against gravity," 
hence moves slowly as compared with that which rushes through the 
arteries. The force of the heart in propelling the blood is lost by 
the time it passes into the veins, except as it fills the vessels behind 
the advancing column, and keeps crowding the contents on by each 
fresh amount driven into them. 

What then is the chief agent in helping the blood forward through 
the veins to complete its circuit ? At short intervals are found valves, 
which press closely against the walls of the veins to let the blood pass, 



54 POINTS WHERE PRESSURE WILL STOP BLEEDING. 

then close, and prevent it from falling back. Examine the picture 
illustrating these valves; it will give a better idea of them than any 
written description. It is the valves which give the knotted appear- 
ance to the veins where there is an obstruction to the circulation. Press 
very firmly upon the wrist a little above the hand, and notice how 
the veins bulge out between the hand and the point pressed upon. 
Bemembering that the blood flows outward from the heart through the 
arteries and backward to the heart through the veins, it will be seen 
that when these vessels are cut off or broken, there will be a hemor- 
rhage. To stop it pressure must be used; when the injured vessel is 
an artery the pressure must be between the wound and the heart, to 
stop the latter from pumping more blood out at the injured point, and 
it should be applied as near the wound as possible. If the wound 
opens a vein, the pressure must be on the side of the wound opposite 
the heart, or, in other words, back of the injury, because the blood is 
being all the time crowded forward to the heart, and must be prevented 
from reaching the wound. For example, suppose the wound be at the 
knee : if the blood spurts out bright red, it is an artery, and the pressure 
must be applied over the artery and above the knee ; if the blood flows 
in a steady stream and is dark colored, the injured vessel is a vein, and 
the pressure must be applied on it at a point just below the knee. 
Varicose veins are enlarged and knotted vessels, usually found below 
the knee, although veins in other parts of the body sometimes become 
varicose. This condition is generally caused by an obstruction some- 
where, which hinders the return of the blood to the heart, and dams it 
up in the vessels; in rare cases it is caused by a weak heart, or some 
disease of the veins. Whenever the blood vessels are seen to stand 
out prominently and are of dark color, the cause should be sought for 
and removed to prevent the veins becoming varicose. Garters which 
fasten around the leg are a frequent cause — occasionally tight corsets 
or waist bands; constipation is more likely to produce enlarged veins 
than anything else that can be named The pressure of blood on the 
walls stretches them out thinner and thinner, until at last they give 
way and bleed dangerously. When this happens the only thing to be 
done is to lie down, raise the limb a little higher than the body, and 
press on the vein between the bleeding point and the foot. Cloths 
wrung out of ice-cold water may be laid on, and frequently changed to 
stop the haemorrhage. Anything recommended in this volume for stop- 
ping bleeding may be applied. It is always best to send for a doctor, but 



VARICOSE VEINS PILES. 55 

if one can not be had the patient should keep in bed, with the limb 
raised on a pillow until the broken vein is healed, which will take but 
a few days. Before attempting to arise, a soft fine white or unbleached 
(never use colored) stocking should be drawn on — it should fit perfectly 
smooth; over this draw on an elastic stocking, or apply a perforated 
elastic bandage. These may be had of your druggist; if he does not 
keep them, he will order them for you. If an ulcer remains, apply, 
before covering the limb a folded piece of old linen slightly coated with 
clean, unsalted mutton tallow, or well-washed unsalted butter, merely 
to keep the linen from sticking to the sore. Under the head of " Ulcers" 
more particular directions will be given for healing these sores. 

When the blood is dammed up in parts where the flesh is soft, it 
is squeezed through the coats of the veins, and forms little bloody 
tumors, or blood blisters; sometimes a portion of the vein will become 
enlarged, forming a little bag of blood in the flesh or sticking out 
through it; when these form in the lower end of the bowels (the 
rectum), they are called piles, or haemorrhoids. They give rise to great 
suffering. 

The treatment which will cure them when they are first formed, 
and greatly relieve them when of long standing, is the following: 

Treatment for Piles. — First of all it is necessary to remove 
constipation, and until this is done it is useless to apply remedies to 
the pile tumors. One of the most effective means of doing this is by 
the judicious use of a good cathartic pill. There are none better than 
Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills for this purpose. A word of caution is 
in order here as to taking cathartics. People usually take too strong 
doses, because they do not understand how medicine acts. This is 
a mistake, because it may do great injury. Castor oil is a medicine 
with which every reader is probably acquainted. It is considered 
harmless, and usually is, but in one instance known to the writer a man 
who had taken several doses of pills without effect drank a tea-cupful of 
castor oil for a dose; it killed him within forty- eight hours. In another 
case a patient who was partial to a certain brand of pills in the market, 
noted chiefly for their griping effect, noticed on the box that the dose 
was 3 to 6 pills; therefore, to make sure work of it, he swallowed 8 
at once. The next day he was compelled to send for a doctor, for his 
bowels were completely paralyzed, and he could not leave his bed for 
weeks. The pills we have named do not possess such qualities as 
the last described, but they will act better if taken as follows: If 



56 PILE OINTMENTS AND SUPPOSITORIES. 

moderately hard to operate upon, take two pills, never more than 
three, for a dose; take them at bed time and wait. If the bowels 
do not move the next day, at bed time, take another dose of the same 
number, and keep on until the bowels move freely taking but one 
dose a day, and no more than three pills at one time. After they 
begin to operate, take one pill at bed time, and increase the dose if the 
bowels fail to move during the day. These pills unload the liver and 
clear out the whole intestinal canal. After the bowels are regulated 
the piles will be found to have improved. One of the following oint- 
ments will then do good service, applied directly to the tumors: 

No. 1. Pile Ointment. — Take nutgalls in very fine powder, 60 
grains; lard, one ounce; carbolic acid crystals 10 grains; opium 
(powdered), 30 grains; powdered camphor gum, 30 grains. Rub the 
lard and carbolic acid together in a mortar till thoroughly mixed; then 
add the other ingredients one at a time, mixing each before the next is 
added. Keep in a closely covered tin or glass receptacle. To use, 
take a piece as large as a very large pea, and rub into the piles in the 
morning and at night. 

No. 2. Pile Ointment. — Take equal parts of witch hazel bark, 
white oak bark, and apple-tree bark (that from the root is best). Cover 
them with soft water, let them stand over night in an earthen bowl or 
jar; in the morning let them gently simmer over the stove, keeping the 
vessel covered for half an hour. Remove from the fire, let it cool, 
strain. Boil this decoction down to a thick syrup, and add as many 
ounces of fresh, sweet lard as there were of the barks; simmer it over a 
slow fire with occasional stirring till the water is out, taking care not 
to burn it. For summer use a little clean beeswax may be added. 
Use the same as No. 1. 

No. 3. Pile Suppositories. — These are best made by your drug- 
gist. Take carbolic acid (refined), 12 grains; tannic acid, 24 grains; 
fresh, pure lard, 1 ounce; white wax, 10 grains. Melt the lard and stir 
in the carbolic acid; then mix well with the wax, and stir all together 
in a mortar with the tannic acid till it is evenly mixed ; then divide into 
12 equal parts. Insert one in the rectum at bed time. If the piles 
are very troublesome, first inject a cup of hot or cold water — whichever 
is most agreeable to the parts ; when it passes away, use the supposi- 
tory-. 

In very troublesome cases which are not relieved by the treatment 
described, go to your family physician and permit him to inject the 



CAPILLARY CIRCULATION. 57 

pile tumors with a preparation which will cause them to shrink up and 
disappear. The operation is not dangerous, and hurts no more than a 
slight prick with a needle, so that it is easily borne without chloroform 
or ether. Your own physician is to be trusted rather than a stranger, 
and especially a traveling doctor who has no reputation to lose, and as 
a rule is not at all particular about cleaning his instruments, even 
when he has skill in using them. An instance in point occurred in 
Canada last year. One of those traveling show doctors who pulls 
teeth free appeared in a town, and had his hands full attending to the 
jaws of people eager to get something for nothing, even though that 
something was as undesirable as pulling teeth. Some days later 
everyone not protected by a previous attack was taken down with 
small-pox. The local doctors investigated, and found the traveling 
doctor had come directly from a distant point where small-pox was 
prevailing, and had undoubtedly operated on some one coming down 
with the disease. 

How the Blood Passes from the Arteries to theVeins. 

— We have described the circulation of the blood from the instant that 
it leaves the heart until its return, except during its passage from the 
arteries to the veins. The arteries divide and subdivide into smaller 
and smaller branches until they terminate in a network of pipes finer 
than a hair, which are called capillaries, from a Latin word meaning 
hair. They are so small it would take 3,000 placed side by side to 
make an inch. They are woven together like lace-work, and their coat 
or wall is so thin that the blood can easily pass through it. These are 
highly important portions of our body, because it is in and around 
them that the work of building up and tearing down the tissues (for 
these changes are going on incessantly) takes place. The walls of these 
capillaries sometimes become thickened or clogged up by substances 
that ought not to be there, and especially by disease germs, which hin- 
der or put a stop to the work of nutrition, and then we are sick. Com- 
plaints caused by the latter are frequently called " filth diseases," be- 
cause these species of germs can not nest and develop where everything 
is elean, any more than maggots can ; the eggs from which they are 
hatched must be deposited in suitable material. 

The blood going into the capillaries is bright, red and clean; once 
there it is spread out for the bones, the flesh, the nerves to pick 
out their share, which they do, and at the same time deposit atoms. 



58 BLOOD DISKS AS EVIDENCE IN MTJKDEK TRIALS. 

which they have used up— the ashes and other debris of tne human 
kitchen. As the blood passes on through these tiny vessels it gradually 
parts with all its nutrient elements, becoming dirty and black; and in 
this state it is crowded on into the veins, from whence we have already 
traced it back to the heart. 

The blood when taken from the body soon separates, forming a 
clot and a thin whey-like fluid, called serum. The clot is made up of 
blood cells, or disks, and a substance called fibrin. The fibrin when ex- 
posed to the air appears as a stringy substance, and entangles in its 
meshes the disks; if it were not for this it would be certain death every 
time a large blood vessel is cut, for nothing could stop the flow of blood. 
If the wound be stopped by pressure, the fibrin separates in a few 
minutes, forming a clot which plugs up the bleeding vessels. Nothing 
else will prevent a fatal haemorrhage. The substances put on to stop 
the blood are intended to hasten the forming of a clot, but, with the 
exception of cold water or ice, they are useless. The best way to heal 
a cut is to bind it up " in the blood, and leave it undisturbed for a day 
or two, until the wound feels uncomfortable. Never put on a quid of 
tobacco It is a filthy and dangerous expedient. A healthy boy of six 
teen cut his finger badly in a shop where a number of men were at 
work. One of them took the quid from his mouth, placed it over the 
wound, bound it up. Unfortunately the man was suffering from a 
loathsome disease which affected his mouth. It was conveyed to the 
finger by the tobacco quid, and the boy had his constitution seriously 
undermined, besides nearly losing his life. Never use anything but 
clean water from a clean vessel and clean cloths in dressing a cut or 
open wound, no matter how small it is. If it becomes unhealthy, there 
is no better cleanser and stimulant than Uncle Sanf s Nerve and Bone 
Liniment. 

The disks when looked at through a microscope resemble tiny 
flat plates, hollowed a little in the center , they adhere together in 
rolls, looking like rolls of coin in the drop of blood under the instru- 
ment, but in the body they are separate. They may be seen in a living 
frog's foot, which is very transparent when stretched out under the 
microscope. The blood disks vary in shape in different animals — a fact 
which occasionally becomes of importance in murder trials. Not far 
from Chicago a brutal murder was committed several years ago. A 
man was arrested on suspicion of being the murderer. Blood stains 
were found on a suit of clothes he had been wearing. He claimed they 



COMPOSITION AND TEMPERATURE OF THE BLOOD. 59 

were made by the blood of his dog, which had been wounded, and bled 
freely while being dressed. The garments were taken to a micro- 
scopist, who carefully extracted the blood, and found in it the disks 
peculiar to dogs, but no human ones. As the evidence of his connection 
with the crime was purely circumstantial, the man escaped conviction, 
aided by this evidence. 

The proverb that "blood is thicker than water " is strictly true, for 
it is thickened by these disks, of which there are no less than 70,000,- 
000,000 — quite eighty times the population of the globe — in a cubic 
inch. There are also dry solid substances dissolved in it. For the benefit 
of those who are fond of figures, we append the following statement of 
the composition of the blood: It is about \ dry solid matter, and \ 
water. In every 100 parts there are, to be exact, 79 parts water to 21 
parts dry solids. Of the 21 parts of dry solids, 12 parts are disks, or cor- 
puscles; of the remaining 9 parts, § is albumen (a substance like the 
white of egg), and \ salts, fat and sugar. In every 100 cubic inches of 
blood there are 50 cubic inches of gases, carbonic acid, oxygen and nitro- 
gen — the same that exists in the air, but they are in different propor- 
tions in the blood. The disks are the oxygen carriers; it is oxygen 
which gives them their bright red color, and as they part with it they 
become dark and changed in form. They also carry fat, phosphates, 
iron, potash and give the blood its red color. If they become reduced 
in number, the blood is pale, and is said to be thin, or " turning to 
water." Meat diet, when well digested, increases the red blood disks. 
The serum, or watery part of the blood, contains chlorine and soda in 
addition to other salts. Every element of which the body is composed 
is found in the blood; there is continually a stream of matter flowing 
from the mineral world through the vegetable and animal creation, up 
to man and back again to the air and soil, there to be reconstructed, 
and again begin the eternal round which shall cease only when the 
earth and its inhabitants are no more. 

The blood is of the same temperature summer and winter, and if we 
were to breathe air as hot as boiling water, it would still remain the same. 
Place a thermometer bulb in the mouth, close the lips so the cold air 
can not touch it, and in a few minutes it will rise to 98^- degs. Water 
heated to this point feels to the hand merely " blood warm," or, if the 
hand is used to working in very hot water, 98 \ degs. will seem cool. 
A bath for children should be tested by a thermometer; the hand 
must not be trusted as a guide, for water that will seem comfortably 



60 BLUSHING AND FAINTING- 

warm to a toughened hand may injure a child severely. The blood 
carries with it heat. The hands and feet get cold in winter because 
the cold contracts or draws up the blood vessels, so that not much 
blood can get into them. Tight shoes, tight garters, tight gloves, by 
obstructing the circulation, make the extremities cold. To keep warm, 
when obliged to ride out on a cold day, wash the face, hands and feet 
in cold water, rub them dry with a coarse towel, which brings the 
blood and heat to the surface. Drivers throw their arms about to keep 
warm, because the movement of muscles throws blood into the ex- 
tremities. Exercise causes the muscles to contract over the vessels in 
such a way as to propel the blood on through its circuit; it therefore 
courses through the veins with vigor, making the whole body more 
healthful. It is probably true that where there can be found one who 
is suffering from overwork, there may be found a hundred who suffer 
from lack of exercise. It is not enough to work; the work must be 
of such varied nature as to call into action every muscle of the body 
during some part of the day; if this be not the case, the muscles re- 
maining inactive during necessary labor must be exercised during the 
hours of recreation, or the health will suffer. Blushing is due to the 
sudden filling of the capillaries or little vessels connecting the arteries 
and veins. A sudden emotion dilates them, the blood rushes in, the 
red color gives the flush to the face. Fainting is accompanied by the 
opposite state; these minute vessels contract and shut out the blood, 
hence the pale face. 

Attention firmly fixed upon a part alters the circulation through it, 
and disturbs the perfect balance of nourishment and work. It was not 
intended that we should concern ourselves about the way the servants 
of the body, which are not under the control of our will, carry on their 
work; they are purposely placed beyond our direct control, to leave our 
minds free to do the business of life. If we allow ourselves to fear that 
Dame Nature does not understand her business, and look too closely 
after our bodies, we bring upon us the very ills we dread. 

The unfortunate belief that certain diseases are hereditary, and 
therefore unavoidable, has filled many a grave years before it would 
have been filled in the ordinary course of events. An example of this 
kind occurs to us now. Mrs. H., a physician's wife, exceedingly nervous, 
but in perfect health, was very much excited by a sudden summons to a 
distant city to the bedside of a dying sister. She had been kept in 
ignorance of the fact that her sister had consumption, but arrived a few 



RESULT OF FEARING A DISEASE. 61 

days before her death and witnessed her suffering, which was extreme. 
When the sister was dying she addressed her last word to Mrs. H., who 
firmly believed the superstition that the one to whom the dying 
addresses the last word will be the next to die. She returned home 
after the funeral in a very gloomy state of mind, and told her husband 
she had consumption, and could live but a few months. At first he 
laughed at her ; friends assisted in trying to ridicule the notion away, 
but it was useless. After a few weeks, as she seemed indeed to be 
failing, a council of physicians was called ; she was carefully examined, 
but not a trace of lung or any other disease existed. She was taken on 
a journey, everything was done to divert her mind from what she 
believed to be her impending fate, but nothing produced any effect 
upon her. About four months later, during a sudden change in the 
weather, she took a severe cold, began to cough, and drifted swiftly into 
the state she had so greatly feared. Advice was repeatedly sought 
from those of experience, and all united in the opinion that the disease 
which carried her off originated in her persistent idea that it was 
inevitable. 



62 THE EAK LOSS OF HEABING. 



CHAPTER V. 
THE EAR.-LOSS OF HEARING.— TREATMENT OF EAR DISEASES. 

The organ of hearing has three parts : the external ear, the middle 
ear, and the internal ear. The external ear consists of two parts, the 
auricle, also called pinna (meaning a wing) and the auditory canal. 
The auricle is formed of cartilage, or gristle, covered with skin and 
shaped to catch the waves of sound, and direct them into the auditory 
canal. In the young and vigorous the auricle is stiff, firm, stands out 
from the head, and the curves are very distinct; in the aged or feeble it is 
ilabby, and often lies flat against the head ; the hearing is impaired in 
these cases. It is certain that as people become deaf the auricle 
changes in appearance. The hearing is injured by anything that 
flattens it against the side of the head. The hats and bonnets children 
wear should not be tied on so as to change the position of the auricles. 
This seems like a little thing to write of, but it is these little matters 
which make up the most of our lives. The auditory canal is about an 
inch and a quarter long ; it extends forward and downward, and is a 
little higher in the middle than at either end. This is a point to be 
noted when we come to consider how to get objects out of the ear 
which do not belong there. The internal end of the auditory canal is 
covered with a membrane tightly stretched across, commonly called 
the drum ; it resembles the membrane forming the head of a drum — 
hence its name. This " drum" closes the external ear completely. We 
sometimes hear of people who can pour water in one ear and have it 
run out of the other ; no one can pour water through an ear unless 
the " drum membrane " is gone. This can only occur from disease 
or accident, and, lest it be forgotten further on, we will name some 
of the ways in which it may be destroyed: 

1. Following scarlet fever and measles, there is sometimes a 
discharge from one or both ears. The disease which causes the 
discharge will gradually destroy not only the drum, but other important 
parts, and in time extend to the brain. A child, or grown person with 



PKACTICES WHICH INJURE THE HEARING. 63 

a constant discharge from the ears, is always in danger. A blow upon 
the side of the head, or a cold in the head, may kindle up an inflamma- 
tion that will affect the brain lying just over the ear, and destroy life. 
The time to cure a discharge from the ear is when it first comes, and 
it should not be neglected. 

2. Boxing the ears is liable to burst the ear-drum. 

3. Plunging into the water head first, as boys do in swimming ; 
the noise of a cannon, especially when standing near and in front of 
it ; blowing suddenly into the ear, striking the ear with a snow-ball. 

4. Boring the ears with a knitting needle, or darning needle, or 
any hard object, punctures it. Remember it is only 1^ inches from the 
opening of the ear to the drum. 

5. Abscesses in the ear caused by decayed teeth, or anything 
else. 

The purpose served by the drum is to catch the sound-waves, 
and communicate them to certain little bones that lie in the middle ear. 
If the drum be broken it will cease to transfer sound, and the hearing 
will be very imperfect. When we hear a sound, it is because the air is 
set in motion. Throw a stick in the water it will make rings or waves 
that circle around it, spreading one after another until they reach the 
edge of the pond; in the same way, what we call sound is produced by 
waves of air, invisible to our sight, which strike against the ear-drum, 
making it vibrate. When we speak we force air out of the lungs ; this 
displaces the next layer of air, that the next, so the air around us moves 
as the waves move the water. The outer ear is curved in folds to 
collect these air waves. 

The auditory canal is lubricated by a sticky, bitter wax, which 
keeps it clean, and it is also lined with little hairs. The wax in its 
natural state catches the dust that floats in, dries up and falls out in 
scales. The bitterness is a device to keep insects out. Curious to re- 
late, very neat, clean people are more likely to have disease of the 
external ear than the opposite kind. 

Let us see why this is true. People who bathe often wash out 
their ears; water mingling with the wax softens it and changes its 
nature; it does not dry up and fall out, but accumulates; then the person 
screws up the corner of a towel and tries to wipe out the wax. Just for 
an experiment, coil up a piece of stiff paper the size of the auditory 
canal, place a bit of lard or tallow in one end, and try wiping it out with 
a twisted rag; you will push the substance further in, instead of taking 



64 ANATOMY OF THE EAR. 

it out, as you will see. Exactly the same happens in the ear, until the 
drum becomes imbedded in a mass of dry, hard wax, that will not let the 
sound through. It shuts it out more completely than cotton in the ear. 
The only part of the ear that needs washing is the auricle, and if water 
is never forced into the canal it will not get dirty. Let us not forget to 
add the caution against putting bits of cotton in the ears for any pur- 
pose whatever. They are so often crowded down upon the drum with- 
out its being suspected that they are still in the ear (as many as three 
have sometimes been found there), that the only safe thing to do is to 
leave them out altogether. If the ear needs protection, tie a handker- 
chief over it. Never under any circumstances drop medicine in the ear 
for earache, toothache or headache. The ear was not made for a medi- 
cine chest, nor for anything except what Nature puts in it; and those 
who are anxious to preserve their hearing will not interfere with Nature 
where the ear is concerned. 

The middle ear lies within the skull; it is bounded on the external 
surface by the drum membrane, and opposite to this it opens into a 




PIG. 7. THE EAR. 
Pinna. That portion of the ear standing out from the head. 
Meatus Auditorius Externus. The canal leading into the drum. 
Eustachian Tube. The pipe leading from the middle ear to the drum. Observe that 
the drum completely closes the passage. 

tube leading to the throat, called the Eustachian tube. There is no 
tube or opening, even when the drum membranes are destroyed, 
that leads from one ear to the other. How then can one pour water into 



A CASE OF DEAFNESS CAUSED BY MEDICINE. 65 

one ear, and have it flow out of the other ? We confess we do not know, 
and do not think it possible, although often assured of the fact by per- 
sons who believed they had seen it done. It was probably a trick. 

The internal ear is the essential part of the organ of hearing; it 
lies wholly within the skull, and fortunately, being so precious a 
possession Nature has carefully placed it out of our reach, so that 
while we can poultice, plug, or medicate the external ear, and even by 
the aid of the aurist can force medicine into the middle ear, yet the 
internal ear is safe from all intrusion. The popularity of electricity 
at present threatens the ear with a new danger. Owing to the close 
connection with the brain, electricity ought never, under any circum- 
stances, to be applied to the ear except by an aurist, or a physician 
fully acquainted both with that powerful agent to which we refer, and 
the proper treatment of the ear itself. It can do no good unless skill- 
fully applied, and is capable of very great mischief. 

Disease alone can reach the internal ear; and when disease does 
destroy its activity there is no hope, so far as is now known, of 
recovering the hearing. That dread disorder, spinal meningitis, 
frequently invades the internal ear, and the patient recovers from the 
illness deaf. Medicines which produce ringing in the ears have 
been known to destroy the hearing. A man of 30, strong and 
healthy, until business called him into a malarial country, returned 
home with the ague. Having little faith in physicians, like many 
another who has never needed them, he thought he could doctor 
himself, therefore procured a quantity of quinine from a druggist, and 
measured out his own doses. He began with a teaspoonful, and 
increased his allowance for two or three days, taking it while having 
the chill and during the fever. He awoke one morning astonished at 
the silence prevailing in the house. He saw that it was late, the 
children were at play, — he could see their lips move, — but not a 
sound could he hear. From that time for the remainder of his life 
he never heard distinctly, even through an ear-trumpet, the voice of 
wife or child again. Two causes united to produce the injury: first, 
the excessive doses; second, taking quinine when the system was not in 
a right state for it. Powerful medicines are none the less dangerous 
when ignorantly used, because they are common and well known. 
Familiarity with drugs is quite apt to breed contempt of their power; 
but none the less do they cause all the injury of which they are capa- 
ble, when misused. A child that cries when' its ears are washed, or 



DO METHOD OF TESTING THE HEAEINQ. 

who appears dull and inattentive when spoken to, should be examined 
by a skillful doctor, for there is probably something wrong with its 
ears. 

Children should never be blamed for stupidity until it has been 
found that their hearing is not at fault. We recall, in this connection, 
the case of a girl about ten years of age, who was a source of great 
mortification to her people, who were very proud, because she was 
pronounced extremely dull in school, and was far behind her younger 
sisters. They very seriously considered the plan of keeping her out 
of school altogether, when a new teacher, who chanced to be a medi- 
cal student, was employed. The mother determined to give her 
another trial, and went with her to the teacher, explaining the child's 
deficiencies, and asking him to see if it were possible to teach her any- 
thing. Struck by the attitude of the child when spoken to, he 
immediately suspected that her hearing was at fault, and proceeded to 
test it in a simple way, that any one may try. Asking her to fix her 
eyes on an object in front of her, to hold her hand tightly over her 
left ear, and to speak when she heard any new sound, he held his 
watch some distance from her right ear, bringing it nearer, until she 
exclaimed, "The watch ticks!" Trying it again, he found she coftld 
hear it only ten inches from that ear. On testing the opposite ear in 
the same way, he found she could hear the watch only when it was in 
contact with her head. Bidding her to close her eyes, he tested her 
power to hear speech, and found that she could hear, to understand 
what was said, at only a very short distance; but with eyes open so 
that she could watch the lips of the speaker, she could understand what 
was spoken at a much greater distance. The child was shown to be, 
instead of dull and stupid, unusually quick and observant ; otherwise, 
she could not have lived ten years with her infirmity neither discov- 
ered nor suspected. She was placed under the care of a skillful 
physician, who succeeded in restoring her hearing to an extent which 
overcame her difficulty in pursuing her studies in school, and banished 
all appearance of dullness or stupidity. 

These three points in regard to hearing should be remembered, 
especially by those who have charge of children: 

1. Slight degrees of deafness, often lasting but a few days, are 
very common among children, especially after colds in the head. 

2. Slight deafness^ which does not prevent a person from hear- 



INSECTS AND OTHER OBJECTS IN THE EAE. 



67 



ing when he is expecting to be spoken to, will make him very dull to 
what he is not expecting. 

3. There is a kind of deafness, in which a person can hear pretty- 
well while listening, but is really very hard of hearing when not lis- 
tening. 

Some of the common causes of deafness, referring now only to 
avoidable causes, are the following : Colds in the head; sitting or 
sleeping with the wind blowing into or upon the ear; railway cars 
with the window raised spoil many ears. Always face a wind when 
compelled to be exposed to it. Rain or sleet driving into the ear 
injures it; wet hair around the ear chills it. Sportsmen, in passing 
through thorny brush, turning the head suddenly, may force a thorn 
into the ear and pierce the drum. A school boy has been known to 
hold a pen near another's ear, and, making him turn suddenly, it has 
been driven down upon the drum, puncturing it. Sudden loud noises 
close to the ear may break the drum. If exposed to the noise of bells 
or musketry, close the ears to shut out the sound as much as possible. 

ObJGCtS in the Ear. — A tiny insect inside the ear causes a tre- 
mendous commotion and intense distress. Immediately turn the head 
on one side and fill the ear with sweet oil, olive oil, glycerine, or warm 
water, to suffocate it. It will generally float to the top of the liquid, 
and can be picked out. Children frequently push hard objects into 
the ear. Do not be in haste to remove them. It must be managed 
gently, and be done by syringing. An attempt to pry them out may 
not only damage the ear, but excite an inflammation that will injure or 
endanger the brain. Sometimes a fine wire loop, or a loop of waxed 
thread, can be slipped in beside the object, then over it, and, being 
gently pulled on, will dislodge it. A syringe and warm water is 
generally the most effectual. Let *the head lie comfortably, with the 
opening of the ear down; syringe from below. Do not throw the 
stream against the object, but to one side, so that the water passes 
around behind it and presses it down to the outlet. Do not get dis- 
couraged if you don't succeed with the first trial; wait till next 
day, and then try it again. Never syringe a kernel of corn or wheat, 
a bean or pea ; the water will make them swell, and then they can not 
be removed until the moisture dries out. 

Ear Ache. — Don't put medicines in the ear. Hold the head 
over a basin of hot water to steam the ear, taking care not to burn it. 



68 TREATMENT OF A " BUNKING EAR." 

Bathe the head around the ear with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone 
Liniment, and then apply hot flannel over the ear and side of the head; 
sometimes a hop pillow heated will be more grateful. A poppy 
poultice may be prepared and applied as follows: Take a handful of 
poppy-heads, pour over them enough boiling water to cover them; let 
them stand in a tightly closed basin for half an hour, strain, press out 
the water from the poppies and thicken with linseed or corn meal; 
spread a suitable piece of cloth two inches or more thick, cover icith 
cheese cloth or thin muslin, and lay on the ear, muslin side down. This 
is covered to keep the poultice out of the ear. 

Discharges of matter from the ear call for daily cleansing with 
hot water. To keep it free from a foul odor, add to the water a 
solution of carbolic acid, enough to give it a faint odor of the acid. A 
crystal or two of permanganate of potash, just enough to make the 
water a light pink, will sometimes agree better than carbolic acid. Do 
not use potash to make the water a dark purple; that will be strong 
enough to do serious harm. If keeping the ear clean does not very 
soon stop the discharge, consult a doctor. Never use anything on the 
recommendation of a neighbor or stranger to dry up the ear. Save 
all experiments of this character for some ailment that is not so easily 
made dangerous to life as is a diseased ear. 

The middle ear as we have 6een, is connected with the throat by 
a tube called the Eustachian canal. This tube admits air to the ear, 
and when closed by disease makes the hearing dull. Sore throat and 
catarrh sometimes spread up this tube, closing it; this can be treated 
safely only by a skillful ear doctor. Enlarged tonsils sometimes press 
upon the opening of this tube, nearly or quite closing it; in these 
cases the hearing will be improved by curing the tonsils. 



THE EYES DEFECTIVE SIGHT. 69 



CHAPTEE VI. 

THE EYES.-DEFECTIVE SIGHT.-SELECTION OF SPECTACLES. 

The Eyes. — There is no loss that can befall us which is a greater 
affliction, or attended by more inconvenient consequences, than the loss 
of sight. It is an alarming fact that while the population of the 
United States during the ten years from 1870 to 1880 increased at the 
rate of thirty per cent., blindness during the same time increased over 
one hundred and forty per cent. Statistics show that it increased in 
almost constant ratio from north to south, and that it decreased in the 
same way from east to west. Physicians in charge of dispensaries and 
charitable institutions are forcibly impressed with the dire results of 
prevailing ignorance in regard to the care of the eyes. Deeming the 
subject of great importance, we have devoted considerable space to 
describing the care needed to preserve them. By far the larger proportion 
of blindness originates in infancy. If mothers and nurses would 
throw away all eye-washes, ointments, or salves, keep the eyes clean, 
and, when they become irritated or inflamed, would consult a doctor 
immediately, very many children's eyes would be saved which are now 
hopelessly lost because first seen when too late to save them. It is very 
strange that people who consult a doctor about the most trivial ailment 
affecting themselves, will try to treat a disease which is likely to destroy 
the sight, hearing, or otherwise disable a child for life, according to 
their own or neighbor's ideas. It is more important that a child have 
a good doctor than for grown folks; the latter are tougher, and besides, 
when the growth is complete, Nature will heal most ailments in time, 
if given a fair chance. Those disorders which make cripples, hunch- 
backs, develop evil hereditary tendencies, cause blindness, deafness or 
epilepsy, can nearly always be traced back to infancy or early child- 
hood. " As the twig is bent, the tree is inclined " is as true of the 
body as of the mind; therefore don't experiment with the children, but 



70 CROSS-EYES PRODUCED BY SIDE LIGHTS. 

seek advice early when anything serious threatens, or when anything at 
all ails the eyes, the ears or the brain. 

The eyes are the organs of vision. They are placed in sockets 
within the skull, where they are protected from injury, and occupy a 
place which gives them the most extensive range of sight. They are 
connected with several muscles, which turn the eyeball in every direc- 
tion. For example, one muscle turns the ball inward toward the nose at 
our will, and an opposing muscle at the same time is put on the stretch 
by this act; as soon as the will releases the muscle drawing the eye in, 
the opposing muscle contracts and draws it back, so that we look or see 
straight before us. Sometimes one of these muscles will become 
weakened; it can not then overcome the force of its opposing muscle, 
and the eyeball is turned partially around toward the stronger one. 
This makes a cross-eye; the direction of the ball may be inward, out- 
ward, up or down. Infants who suck their thumb constantly, and 
watch the hand steadily while they are awake, overtax the muscles 
which draw the balls outward, and both eyes will bo turned inward 
permanently. A light constantly placed so that a child lying in its 
crib must turn its eyes one side, or in any other way than straight 
ahead to watch it, will in time produce cross-eyes. There are other 
ways in which one becomes cross-eyed; but as these are due to disease 
they will properly come under the care of a doctor, and need not be 
described here. The form of the eyeball is olive or egg-shaped; in 
front of it is set a curved plate of round, hard, transparent material, just 
as a crystal is set in a watch, and for a similar purpose, to protect the 
parts beneath, and also to let the light pass through. It is shown in 
Fig. 8 ; it is called the cornea, and makes the eye bulge out in front, so 
that the ball is a little deeper from the front to the back than from side 
to side. Looking into the eye the first thing we notice is a ring of color 
called the iris, meaning rainbow, so named because of its various color in 
different persons. It is a little curtain hung behind the cornea to control 
the amount of light passing through to the sensitive parts behind it. In 
the center is an opening, which looks black in healthy eyes; this is the 
pupil. In the back part of the eyeball is a highly sensitive plate or 
surface, upon which are formed images of objects looked at. It is 
called the retina. At one time it was thought that a photograph of 
the retina of a murdered person would be likely to show the face of the 
murderer as the last image formed upon it. Some very curious experi- 
ments were tried, but expectations were not realized. When the eye is 



ANATOMY OF THE EYE. 71 

exposed to a bright light, the iris is drawn over the pupil, making it 
very small; this shuts out part of the light, admitting only what can be 
borne without injury by the delicate retina. The eye-brows and eye- 
lashes keep the dust out of the eyes; the eye-lids close to protect them. 
A watery fluid is constantly being poured out of the tear glands, which 
lie in the outer corners of the eye. When we wink, this is moved over 
the ball to wash it; the dirty water is poured out through an opening in 
the inner cornea of the eye, and runs down through a little tube called 
the nasal duct into the nose. This is shown at a, Fig. 11. Under the 
influence of grief or other emotion, the water is poured out faster than 
it can be carried off through this tube, and then it runs over upon the 
cheeks as tears. Cold in the head stops up the nasal duct; this also 
makes the tears flow. Catarrh will sometimes close this duct per- 
manently; then the eye upon the side of the closed duct will be watery, 
reddened, and the tears will flow from it constantly, making a " weeping 
eye." The surgeon gently pushes a probe through the duct to open it, 
which relieves the eye. Sometimes it is necessary to keep a small 
glass tube in the opening to prevent its closing again 




FIG. 8. DIAGRAM OF THE EYE. 
C. Cornea. h. p. Image on the retina. 

L. Lens. p. Optic Nerve. 

P. H. Object. i. i. Iris. 

The iris is represented contracted, leaving the pupil large. The white lines represent rays 
of light reflected from the object through the eye to the sensitive retina, where the image is 
formed reversed, as in the camera. The image is always formed where the rays focus— in this 
case &thmp. 

A photographer's camera is constructed on the same principle as 
the eye. If you put your head under the dark cloth with which he 
covers the camera, and look at the ground glass slide in the back of the 
instrument, you will see an image of the object before the camera, but 



72 SOME CAUSES OF DEFECTIVE SIGHT. 

it is upside down. Move the camera nearer the object, the image on 
the ground glass grows larger ; move it away it becomes smaller, but by- 
turning certain screws the instrument may be adjusted so that the 
image is just as distinct when far away and very small as when near 
by and large. There are lenses in the eye which are adjusted to 
different distances by muscles which are under our control. Looking 
at distant objects we unconsciously adjust our eyes for them, and as 
instantly adjust them again for those which are close to us. We are 
speaking now of healthy natural eyes. As old age comes on there is a 
change in the lenses, so that they are not so easily adjusted for near 
objects, while distant ones can be seen even better than before, so that 
in growing old the eyes naturally become far-sighted. After an 
exhausting sickness, which leaves the muscles very weak, there is often 
impaired eyesight, due to weakness of the muscles that move and adjust 
the eyeball. Caution should be given not to over-fatigue the eyes 
while in this state, for it is possible to bring on actual disease or per- 
manent poor vision by doing so. 

Avoidable Causes of Defective Sight.— The practice of 

reading or doing work which requires close attention, with the light 
shining directly in the eyes, will soon make them weak. It is said that 
sailors, who make voyages through the tropics, where they are much 
exposed to the rays of the hot sun, after a time become unable to see 
after sunset. The sensitive retina becomes dulled by the bright light, 
so that subdued light, such as accompanies twilight, will make no 
impression upon it. The same loss of sensitiveness of the retina is 
the cause of " night blindness." The brilliant electric light is very 
injurious to the sight ; the strong contrast between the spaces illumi- 
nated by the arc-light and the surrounding darkness is so great that it 
is a hard strain upon the best of eyes. Those compelled to be much 
exposed to it should wear the glasses that are made to soften the rays 
of light which enter the eye. They are slightly tinged with blue, giving 
them a smoky color. Those who work upon objects that require good 
sight, must attend to the lighting of their bench or desk. Too strong 
a light, one which dazzles the eyes, an unsteady light, especially if it 
is sometimes very strong and then suddenly grows dim, or one which is 
irregularly distributed, causing dark shadows, or that which comes 
from a wrong direction, all injure the eyes. 

A young lady, whose eye-sight was perfect, secured employment in 



ADJUSTMENT OF LIGHT TO PREVENT INJUKY TO THE EYES. 7«fc 

a city office as book-keeper. She was placed with her desk facing the 
street, before a large curtainless north window. As the sun did not 
shine directly into the room, her employer believed the light to be suit- 
able. Unconscious of danger she worked steadily at her books, but in 
about three months began to be troubled with headaches, coming on 
during the day and growing worse until night ; in connection with the 
headache she noticed that her sight was growing dim. She consulted 
a physician, who prescribed the usual medicines for her headache, but 
without relieving it. Her eyes now became inflamed, and she sought 
the advice of an oculist. He pronounced the difficulty " eye-strain," 
and claimed that the headaches were caused by the injury to the optic 
nerve, which was in a fair way to be permanently paralyzed. She 
abandoned business, and remained in a darkened room for nearly six 
months before her eyes were sufficiently restored to read. A year after 
she resumed her employment she was given a place where the light came 
over her left shoulder, and by aid of glasses was able to keep at work 
with no further trouble. Those working on polished surfaces should 
beware of direct sunlight, as it may be flashed in the eyes suddenly to 
their injury. Workers with a microscope, if they allow the full glare 
of the sun to be reflected, have their sight injured. A middle aged 
jeweler once lost his sight in the following way: He had been accus- 
tomed to work before a north window at delicate articles, which required 
the constant use of the magnifying glass. It is probable that his eyes 
were over-iatigued, therefore weaker than usual, but he had noticed 
nothing wrong with them. A mischievous boy at a window across the 
street amused himself with flashing the light from a lens, or "burning 
glass," into the jeweler's eyes. After this had been done several times 
the latter found that his sight was gone. The optic nerve was para- 
lyzed, and he was " stone blind." Those who are compelled to work 
before a window into which the sun shines directly, can do so safely by 
placing in front of it a screen of ground glass, or that which is of a 
grayish white or bluish tint. If you have never thought of the differ- 
ence which the direction of the light makes, try now, while reading this 
book, first facing the light in front, then changing your position let the 
light fall upon the page from over the shoulder ; if observant and your 
eyes are sound, you will notice that the latter is least fatiguing to the 
sight. The reason why the left shoulder is the one for the light to 
shine over will be seen on attempting to write with the light on the 
opposite side — the shadow of the hand will fall upon the paper where 



74 CAKE OF THE EYES. 

the pen is moving. Light coming from both sides at once is very 
injurious ; school children are often placed so that cross-lights fall 
upon their books. Teachers in ill-lighted rooms should arrange tasks 
so that those requiring the most light may be done when the room is 
best lighted. Walking up and down a room while reading may, by 
the change in light and shadows, strain the eyes. Eeading under 
shade trees is open to the same objection. Reading in carriages or on 
the cars is objectionable, not only on account of the changing lights 
and shades, but the jarring constantly changes the position of the page, 
which compels as frequent changes in the adjustment of the eye, tiring 
it, and, if persisted in, impairing the sight permanently. 

Anything which hinders free circulation of the blood through the 
head injures the eyes. Bending the head over low desks, especially 
when this position is kept for several hours at a time, is extremely bad 
for them. Children should be taught to read, write and study sitting 
upright. Tight neck bands, collars, chains, or strings of beads, the 
latter especially, when threaded on elastic cord, should never be 
worn. They press upon the large blood vessels in the sides of the 
neck, and lessen the flow. Heat injures the eyes ; cooks working over 
a hot stove suffer from weakness of sight. Their eyes should be fre- 
quently bathed in cool water — not ice water, for a chill is quite as 
dangerous as too great heat. Sewing women, engravers, and others 
working by a lamp which heats the eyes may protect them without 
materially lessening the light by placing a glass globe filled with water 
between themselves and the lamp. A large sponge saturated with 
water placed beside the lamp moistens and cools the air around it. 
When the eyes are much exposed to dust (as in threshing, hay press- 
ing, etc.), irritating fumes or anything which reddens them and makes 
them tingle or smart, they should be frequently washed with cool 
water; or, if the body be hot and sweaty, let the water be lukewarm, but 
never hot, except by a surgeon's advice. At bed time it is a good plan 
to anoint the edges of the lids, after washing out the eyes, with castor 
oil, almond oil, or even a little pure cosmoline. 

Accidents Affecting the Eyes.— Never rub the eyes when 
anything is thrown into them. This is the first thing usually done, 
but it never should be. Small particles of soot, wood, straw, or dust 
feel very large when they are under the eye-lids. Grasp the lashes of 
both upper and lower lids between the thumb and fore-finger, draw the 



TREATMENT OF ACCIDENTS TO THE EYES. 75 

lids out away from the ball, and the tears will quickly flow ; then turn 
the head to one side, so they may wash the object out at the corner of 
the eye. This will rarely fail to remove them if done before they are 
rubbed into the lids. Blow the nose violently, if the first trial does not 
succeed. Anything hard does not long remain on the surface of the 
eyeball, but is soon rubbed off upon the lining of the lid, and will there 
be found. A strip of paper about a quarter of an inch wide, rolled up 
in the shape of a lamp-lighter, makes a safe implement to remove ob- 
jects from the eye which the tears fail to wash out. 

Pieces of metal, stone, or thorns flying into the eye may stick in 
the ball so that they can not be easily removed. Many eyes are lost 
by unskillful attempts to dig out objects from the ball. Seek the best 
surgical advice at once, even though the injury may seem slight, and 
until aid can be had apply cloths wet in cold water, or drop a little 
castor oil in the eye to allay irritation. While waiting for the doctor, 
turn up the upper lid and look for bits of the substance ; pick them out 
if they can be found. In Europe talc spectacles are made for the use 
of stone-cutters and others whose eyes need such protection. 

Treatment of an Eye that is Knocked out of its 

Socket. — This accident happens only when a very severe blow is re- 
ceived, which usually crushes the eyeball. Occasionally it has been 
knocked out of place without being seriously injured; in these cases 
the eye can sometimes be saved by prompt attention. If the injury 
has not thrown dirt upon it (in which case it must first be cleansed), 
immediately press it back into place, using the greatest gentleness in 
doing so. Close the lid over it, and cover with a clean folded hand- 
kerchief wet in cold water; keep the eye as cool as possible, and apply 
no other treatment except under the advice of a competent doctor. 

Never Poultice an Eye.— We can not make this advice too 
emphatic. Do not allow anyone to over-persuade you. It needs but 
a very brief experience in the treatment of eyes to convince one that an 
army of blind people owe their misfortunes to the almost universal 
custom of poulticing everything that is sore. 

The great danger in all injuries to the eye is from inflammation, 
because this frequently spreads to the sound eye and destroys it also. 
Penetrating wounds made by pen-knife blade, fork or any sharp instru- 
ment, as well as rupture of the eyeball from a blow, may, under skill- 
ful care, heal, leaving some sight. The only application that ought 



76 DANGEBS TO THE EYES FROM CHILDREN AT PLAY. 

ever to be made to these injuries is cold water on clean cloths. Never 
take a handkerchief for this purpose, unless it be fresh from the wash; it 
is not safe to employ one that has been in a pocket, although it has not 
been used. 

Fragments of metal, stone, etc., thrown into the eyeball are most 
dangerous. It is often impossible to tell whether they have penetrated 
the ball or not. When the eyeball is merely cut, the object having 
fallen out, the patient may escape with perfect vision; if it has dis- 
appeared inside the eyeball, there is not one chance in a thousand that 
the eye can be saved, and an even chance that the other eye will be 
lost from " sympathetic inflammation. " Years after the accident an 
inflammation may suddenly start up, and destroy the sound eye in a 
few hours. An eyeball with a piece of metal, a shot, a thorn, or any 
foreign substance in it which can not be removed, is always in danger. 
Oculists recommend that the injured eye be taken out at once, to save 
the sound eye. 

Children should be trained at an early age to spare each other's eyes 
in their play. Throwing prickly burrs at each other has been known 
to prove very serious. We once saw a child's eye literally filled with 
the prickles from a chestnut burr ; it required several hours' patient work 
to pick them out one by one — the only way to save the eye. A middle 
aged lady of our acquaintance has suffered from childhood from dis- 
eased eyes, which forbid her reading or doing anything that demands 
good sight. She owes her misfortune to a handful of sand thrown in 
her eyes by a playmate at school. Bows and arrows, in the hands of 
young children, are dangerous weapons. The endeavor to rival the 
famous deed of William Tell, has cost many a boy a good eye. Blows 
on the eyeballs, that leave no bruise, redness or noticeable change, fre- 
quently produce extreme pain and dimness of sight. Blows from corks, 
pieces of wood, balls, bruises from running against objects in the dark, 
sometimes cause trouble long after the injury has been received. Such 
eyes need watching, because there is for a long time danger of losing 
the sight. Sudden violent exertion, sneezing, coughing or blows may 
produce "blood-shot" eyes. To remove this condition, apply cold 
cloths and bathe the face and forehead around the socket with Uncle 
Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. A foolish trick, which once blinded 
a man, is worth describing here as a warning. He was in company 
with friends, when some one stepped behind, placed both hands over 
his eyes, at the same time bidding him to guess who was doing so. 



TO PREVENT A BRUISED EYE TURNING BLACK. 77 

The man could not, or would not guess, and struggling to free himself, 
the new comer tightened his grasp ; the eyes were open, or forced open 
in the struggle, and the person thus assailed was incurably blinded by 
the pressure of the assailant's fingers. Occasionally the transparent 
part of the eye is scraped or wounded by a blow from a switch, or 
scratch of a child's finger nails, as a baby in arms; it is a serious acci- 
dent. Until the doctor can be found, keep the eye quiet, darken the 
room, apply cold cloths ; never bandage or use warm applications. Blows 
over the eye produce "black eye;" if the lids be cut, a surgeon should 
be seen, so that the wound may be sewed up to prevent an unsightly 
scar, or destruction of the ball from loss of protection. 

A blow on the eye makes the surrounding flesh black and un- 
sightly; the blood settles there, and it takes some time for the little 
vessels which have been broken to mend, and remove the material 
which gives the skin its black color. It is said that if the flesh be 
immediately painted with tincture of cayenne pepper, it will not turn 
black. After the color appears, the best application is raw beefsteak. 
Change it every six hours, until the skin looks natural. 

Burns on the outside of the lid are dangerous, because in healing 
they are liable to contract, and by their pressure damage the eyeball. 
Treat as other burns, but always obtain medical advice as soon as 
possible, to save the sight. 

Gunpowder Injuries.— The sight may be destroyed by con- 
cussion of the air from the discharge of a cannon. The lids and eye- 
ball may be burned by powder, or grains of powder may be driven 
into them, producing as serious results as bits of steel or other metal. 
The grains of powder must be picked out and cold cloths applied; if 
there is no one willing to pick out the powder, apply cold water until 
medical assistance can be procured. 

Lime in the Eyes. — Do not wash the eyes with water at first, 
but use vinegar ; if very strong, mix with water. This neutralizes the lime 
and prevents its destroying the covering of the eye. Any bits of lime 
remaining may be brushed out with a feather or piece of soft paper, 
rolled up to a point. Whitewash, or lime from mortar, sets up inflam- 
mation, which needs a doctor's attention, because there is great danger 
of injury to the sight. After removing all traces of lime and washing 
out with vinegar, bathe with tepid water, then drop a little olive oil, 
castor oil or sweet cream between the lids. The lime may cause the 



78 INJURIES FROM ACIDS OR ALKALIES. 

transparent part of the eye to become dense white, or opaque, which 
will prevent light passing through; it may make the inside of the lids 
raw, so that they grow fast to the eyeball ; it may change the form of 
the eye-lid, so that it fails to cover and protect the eye. In all such 
accidents, skilled attention very early will save many eyes that other- 
wise would become blind. Lye, caustic, potash, or ammonia in the eye 
should be treated the same as lime, with dilute vinegar, followed by oil. 

Injuries from Acids.— Oil of Vitriol, Aqua Fortis, Spirits of 
Salt, or any other powerful acid destroys the parts very rapidly. Lose 
no time after an accident in which these acids touch the eye; but, 
while waiting for a doctor, use any one of the following articles that 
can be had first: Magnesia dissolved in water, soda, saleratus, lime 
water, or strong soap suds. Do not bathe the eye with water until 
after applying the alkali; it will make the acid eat deeper. A sample 
of a mixture to antidote the acid is to take half a tea- spoonful of bi- 
carbonate of soda, dissolve in two table-spoonfuls of water, and pour 
between the eye- lids: next wash out the eye with tepid water, and drop 
in oil (never use coal oil in the eye). Scalds from hot water or burns 
from melted metals may be treated like burns in other parts of the 
body. While healing, the lids must be prevented from growing fast 
to the eyeball. Olive oil, glycerine, or, better still, a very good article 
of cosmoline, or vaseline, worked up under the lids and over the ball, 
twice a day, will keep it separate from the lids. Dark-colored cos- 
moline, or vaseline, irritates the eyes. 

Care of the Eyes in Infancy and Childhood.— The eyes 

of infants are more sensitive to light than those of adults. They are less 
protected against it; the eyebrows are thin, the eye-lashes are short, thin 
and light colored ; the eye-lids are transparent, and the iris incom- 
pletely formed; therefore, their eyes should be shaded from bright, 
strong light. On the contrary, it is not uncommon to find them placed 
before a window, with the full light of day, or even the sun shining di- 
rectly upon the face. At night the lamp is placed where it will shine into 
their eyes. When taken out in their carriage the careless nurse forgets 
to shade their face, or to protect their heads from the hot sun. Impure 
air affects the eyes of infants injuriously. The foulness due to lack of 
ventilation, or the presence of dirty clothes, is even worse than dust 
and smoke. The steam from washing clothing may be loaded with 
particles of matter which irritate the eyes as well as the lungs. A 



INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES PURULENT OPHTHALMIA. 79 

draught, especially if it passes across the upper part of the head, 
injures the eyes ; a chill to the whole body will do the same. An infant 
is often chilled by cold or damp napkins, or from lying in a cool place 
with its garments wet. The eyes of the new-born babe should be 
immediately washed with clean, warm water, without soap. It not 
only has the advantage of removing matter that may cause smarting 
or pain, but will frequently prevent the most dangerous disease which 
ever affects the eye, and the one which destroys more eyes than all 
other causes combined, called by the doctors purulent ophthalmia, 
which is a violent inflammation of the eyes, attended with the forma- 
tion of poisonous pus, or matter. This matter is so dangerous that the 
least particle of it carried on the nurse's finger to her eye will produce 
the same disease in it. Cloths, sponges, towels, employed in cleansing 
such eyes are unsafe to use around healthy eyes, even after they have 
been washed. The disease itself has repeatedly been known to attack 
a healthy eye, and completely destroy the sight within 24 hours. The 
inflammation usually begins when the babe is from 2 to 5 days old; 
sometimes it comes on later. It shows itself by redness and swelling 
of the eye-lids, and by the formation of a thick discharge, which at first 
looks like white of egg, but a little later becomes yellowish- white 
matter. At first this discharge is scanty, and glues the eye-lids together 
as it dries; but it soon becomes abundant and runs out on the cheeks. 
There is a form of inflammation of the eyes which comes on very much 
the same way that is not dangerous, and will be cured in a short time 
by keeping the eye clean, washing it frequently with tepid water or 
milk and water; but no one, except a doctor, can tell, until too late to 
save the eye in a dangerous case, whether the babe has the simple or 
the dangerous form of the disease. Scarcely a week passes in any of 
our eye hospitals that babes are not brought in after 3 or 4 days of 
doctoring by grandmother or neighbors, only to find that it is too late 
to save the sight. Since this disease is found in all communities and 
every station in life, and as it can not be told at the start how severe 
it will prove to be, in order to save the sight, which is only a little less 
valuable than life itself, send for a doctor on its earliest appearance, 
and until he comes do nothing but cleanse the eyes and keep them 
cool. Keep all medicine away from them. Darken the room, or shade 
the eyes from sun and lamplight. 

To Cleanse the Eyes in Purulent Ophthalmia.— Wash 



80 PRESCRIPTION FOB PRESERVING THE SIGHT IN INJURED EYES. 

them out with lukewarm water as often as the matter accumulates ; 
in severe cases this should be done every half hour. To do this draw 
the lower lid gently down toward the cheek with the fore-finger of one 
hand, while from the other a slender stream of water is allowed to 
trickle upon the inside of the lid; catch it with absorbent cotton or 
sponge. If the case be very bad, the upper lid should be drawn up 
toward the eyebrow, and water gently thrown under it to wash it ; be 
careful not to press upon the eyeball. When all the matter is washed 
away, dry the lids by gently pressing a clean old handkerchief or a bit 
of absorbent cotton upon them. If one eye be worse than the other, do 
not use the same rag or water for both. The fingers should be care- 
fully washed each time after cleaning the eyes; burn all rags, sponges, 
etc., used in such a case. Apply pieces of folded linen moistened with 
cold water, and change them as soon as they become warm. Do not 
poultice. 

A violent inflammation of the eye attended by great pain, caused by 
a blow, a gun-cap or bit of glass, a severe cold, or by anything which 
injures the eye, must have prompt attention to preserve the sight. A 
physician should be seen at once. Sometimes it happens that several 
hours or days must elapse before the patient can get to a good doctor ; 
in such cases, the following lotion may be used. Let a druggist pre- 
pare it, using distilled water: Take two grains sulphate of atropine in 
one fluid ounce of water; place one or two drops inside the lower eye- 
lid, wait one hour, and if the pupil has not grown larger than the one 
in the sound eye, apply two drops more in the same way. After the 
pupil begins to grow large, do not repeat the dose of tener than once in 
four hours. This is very -powerful medicine, and must be used strictly 
according to directions. It should be labeled poison, and never be 
used except when no doctor can be had at the beginning of the 
attack. 

Spectacles. — Ordinarily, j)eople with sound eyes begin to need 
glasses between 35 and 45 years; but there are a great many young 
people who, from one cause or another, fail to see objects distinctly 
and continuously, especially when close to them, as in reading or sew- 
ing. 

Unfortunately they are usually told that there is something wrong 
with their eyes — some disease of optic nerve, retina or lens, because 
physicians who have not especially studied the eyes are not always able 



SYMPTOMS SHOWING THAT GLASSES ARE NECESSARY. . 81 

to correctly decide between the need of glasses and some forms of eye 
disorder. 

Persons advanced in years uniformly say, when they -first begin to 
need glasses, that they can not hold out to read or do fine work, particu- 
larly at night, but that for a short time they can see as well as ever 
they did. The eyes soon tire and the print mixes and blurs, so that they 
can not tell the letters apart, but after resting a few minutes they can 
read for a short time as well as ever; then the mixing and blurring 
again occurs. The intervals of ability to read grow shorter and shorter, 
while the periods of repose necessarily become longer and longer, until 
finally the patient gives up trying to read altogether. Whenever this 
is the history of the case, glasses are needed for reading and fine work. 
As a rule, when people can see perfectly at a distance, there is no dis- 
ease of the eye. 

Children sometimes suffer severely from defects in sight, which are 
not discovered until they begin to go to school, and not always then. 
We sometimes see a child who has hitherto not suffered with any 
trouble in vision, begin, with the very first days of school, to complain 
of its eyes. It seems all at once to have become near-sighted. 




DIAGRAM OF THE EYE. 



A. E. Rays of light from an object. 

B. The point on the retina of a perfect eye, where the rays come to a focus. 
G. A far-sighted eyeball; the distance of the object A E is such that the rays of light 
from it can not focus at the retina G, therefore the image is indistinct. 
C. D. A near-sighted eyeball; the image at the focus of the rays of light from the object 
A E is formed in front of C D, not upon it, and is only seen dimly. 

The book is held close to the eyes, distressing and persistent head- 
aches set in, the pain being greatly increased on attempting to use the 
eyes. To force a child in this condition to remain in school is not 
merely cruel — it is wicked. Almost invariably such a child is far- 
sighted, and the effort to focus the eye on near objects causes the 
trouble. So long as the child does nothing but play, the defect in 
vision is not discovered, but the attempt to read or study is certain to 
bring it out. 



82 



SELECTION OF SPECTACLES. 



The eyes of children naturally near-sighted rarely or never become 
painful when called into use, while those who are far-sighted always do 
so. In addition to spasms of the muscles about the eyes, all kinds of 
nervous symptoms may appear, which sometimes become so trouble- 
some as to quite prevent the discovery of their real cause. The first 
thing to be done is to take them out of school, and forbid the use of 
books. Apply a flannel bag filled with hops or poppies, and heated by 
the steam of a tea-kettle, over the muscles to quiet the spasm; after- 
ward bathe them with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. Let 
the eyes have rest for a few days or weeks, according to the nature of 
the case; let the eyes be fitted with suitable glasses, after which the 
child may return to school without injury. 

The choice of glasses is more important than is commonly sup- 
posed. They should be strong enough to enable the wearer to see 
perfectly the objects or print for which they are used; should the eyes 
tire soon, or ache after wearing them a while, they are not suitable ; 
they are defective when colored rings surround the objects looked at. 
There are several points to be looked after in selecting a pair of 
glasses : 

1. The lenses or glasses must be clear, and must make the print 
or stitches look natural, when held conveniently near the eye. 

2. They must be set in the frames, so that the center of the lenses 
correspond with the center of the eyes, and are parallel with the pupils, 
when the spectacles are worn. 

3. The frames should be shaped to fit the head, and stay in place ; 
if they slip down the lenses will not be placed in correct position before 
the eyes, and, although they may be of excellent quality and exactly 
suited to the case, the sight will be strained. Eye-glasses are not so 
good as ordinary spectacles for steady use ; the pressure of the springs 
against the nose interferes somewhat with the circulation of the blood 
in that region — therefore is injurious. Almost as many people suffer 
from disorders of the eyes, due to unsuitable spectacles, as from going 
without spectacles when they are needed. As an example of this the 
following case is given: A lady of 70, vigorous for her years, was 
troubled with only one infirmity — that of defective sight. Her eyes were 
red and watery, smarting so severely, after reading only a little while, 
that she believed she must give up trying to read. She selected her 
own glasses, usually from a peddler, and was confident they were good 
ones. She came to obtain a remedy to allay the pain in her eyes. It 



EYE -STRAIN DEFECTIVE EYES. 83 

was apparent that her glasses were not right, and she was sent to an 
oculist for the purpose of having her eyes properly tested. He pre- 
scribed the glasses she should wear, and sent her to a first-class op- 
tician to buy them. Bathing the eyes with tepid water for a few days 
removed the redness. Two years have now elapsed; she has used none 
but her new glasses for that time, is free from any eye trouble, and 
can read as long as she pleases. It was clearly a case of eye-strain. 
Undoubtedly there are many old people who suffer in a similar manner, 
but, believing the trouble is due to old age, that can not be remedied, 
make no effort to find better aids to sight. The fear of wearing too 
strong glasses is really unfounded. Formerly glaucoma, a disease of 
the eyes which causes dimness of sight, was not understood. At that 
time it was incurable, and resulted in total blindness (it is now curable). 
Opticians noticed that some people who came to them for glasses re- 
turned every two or three months for stronger glasses, and after a 
time lost their sight. It was not unnatural for them to conclude that the 
strong glasses caused the affliction, as they were unacquainted with the 
disease referred to — hence the origin of the prejudice against them. 
Watchmakers, who wear a lens for hours while doing fine work, are 
very free from eye disease. They all ought to have poor sight, if the 
wearing of glasses will produce it. If spectacles are needed at an un- 
usually early age, or if they need to be changed frequently, skilled 
advice should be sought, to be certain that no serious disease is at 
work. 

Defective Eyes.— Not all eyes are perfect at birth. Some 
have the cornea more convex or bulging than usual; in these persons 
near objects only can be seen distinctly; they are said to be "near- 
sighted." There are all degrees of this condition, from that which 
merely prevents one from recognizing friends on the street to the one 
in which objects must be brought within a few inches of the eyes. 
Children are occasionally punished as obstinate or stupid, when the 
trouble is that they can not see. It is difficult for those who are blessed 
with a good sight to imagine what it would be like to be unable to see 
small objects at all, and large ones but dimly at a distance of two or 
three feet. We are, for the most part, unconscious of how much the 
expression of the countenances of those about us influences us. If we 
could not see them, we would find it difficult often to interpret their 
speech. Those whose eyes are defective from birth know nothing of 
their deficiency in this respect. It is similar in effect to being partially 



84 IMFEBFECT SIGHT IB SCHOOL CHILDREN. 

deaf, so that only the loudest tones spoken directly to us are heard — we 
should lose a large portion of the conversation carried on around us. If 
a child be peculiar, dull or stupid, it is better to find out if he be not de- 
ficient in sight or hearing, before resorting to the rod, which at best 
is a questionable quickener of the intellect. It may be necessary for a 
child of 3 years to wear glasses, and, if necessary, do not postpone their 
use. A boy of fourteen, who had been pronounced incorrigibly stupid 
in school, but whose eyes had never been suspected of being at fault, 
was visiting away from home, where he met a young lady, who wore 
glasses for near-sightedness. He put them on one day, and was ob- 
served to gaze intently about him, as if at something new; after a time 
he exclaimed, "Why, Nellie, I can see the leaves on the trees; I never 
saw them before!" And sure enough, it was found that he was very 
near-sighted, and had but a very indistinct idea of objects around him. 
Glasses transformed the lad into a bright and eager scholar. It is a 
common error to believe that short-sighted eyes are good or strong 
eyes; that short sight improves as old age comes on; that short-sighted 
people do not need spectacles for reading or near work, if they can see 
to accomplish it without them. The great danger is that the trouble 
"will increase ; therefore, the eyes should be furnished with such aids as 
will enable them to be employed with the least possible fatigue. The 
light shining into the eyes, or coming from the wrong direction, will 
increase short-sightedness. In Germany this subject has been carefully 
investigated, and it is found that among school children it increases with 
each grade. There is more of it in badly lighted rooms, and where desks 
are low, so that the scholars stoop over them. Any thing which injures 
the health will increase the weakness of the eyes. Short-sighted people 
need concave glasses, while the long-sighted need convex glasses with 
which to see near objects. 

It is not uncommon for the two eyes of the same person to be un- 
like in seeing power, especially in those who have a different formation 
between the two sides of the face. In such cases they need spectacles 
made on purpose for them, having two different lenses, or glasses 
of different power, to correct the difference in the eyes and make them 
see alike. 

Mrs. A. was from early childhood a frequent sufferer from attacks 
of headache, located over and around the left eye. Every kind of head- 
ache medicine was given a trial, but in vain. Gradually she began to 
notice that the headache always followed an attempt to use the eyes 



EYE-STRAIN PRODUCES HEADACHE. 85 

steadily in sewing or reading for several hours at a time, but so long as 
she did nothing requiring close attention, she was free from headache. 
Some one suggested that perhaps her eyes were diseased. She had them 
examined, and a difference was found of between four and five inches 
in the distance at which she could see distinctly. Glasses made to 
correct this defect, worn constantly when occupied in work demanding 
good sight, put an end to her headaches entirely. 



THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 



CHAPTEK VII. 
THE BRAIN AND NERVES. 

The Brain is the organ of the mind. A sound mind in a sound 
body is necessary for the highest development of which we are individ- 
ually capable. There is no part of the body that is independent of the 
rest; therefore, when one part suffers, all suffer to some extent. It fol- 
lows, then, that the brain, and consequently the mind, can not be as 
perfect when the body is the subject of disease as when all the parts 
are working harmoniously. We are taught that our souls, or minds, 
live forever, and that our future state depends largely upon the use we 
make of our opportunities here. Believing this, can one doubt that 
neglect of the bodily welfare is a sin as distinctly as a neglect of the 
soul's best interests? It is sometimes claimed that for physical sins we 
receive punishment in physical pains and suffering ; but it may be 
questioned if the punishment stops here. An abuse of the body which 
destroys certain parts of the brain, for example, renders the faculties 
dependent upon those portions of the brain inactive for the remainder 
of life ; the mind, therefore, can not develop in that direction. The use 
of alcoholic liquors, by hardening certain delicate brain cells, reduces 
their activity ; loss of memory, perverted ideas, dullness of compre- 
hension are common enough among moderate drinkers, to say nothing 
of drunkards, to prove this. The fact that these transmit defective 
brains to their descendants, goes far to show that the punishment for 
physical sins extends beyond a single lifetime. 

The average weight of the brain in an adult man is a little more 
than three pounds. A woman's brain is from five to six ounces less in 
weight. The brain of Cuvier, the celebrated naturalist, weighed exactly 
four pounds, while the brain of an idiot seldom weighs more than one 
and a half pounds. The human brain is heavier than that of all the 
lower animals except the elephant and the whale. The brain of the 
former weighs from eight to ten pounds ; that of a whale 75 feet long 
weighs rather more than five pounds. The weight of the brain 



NIGHT STUDY INJUBES CHILDREN. 87 

increases rapidly up to the seventh year, more slowly between six- 
teen and twenty, and still more slowly between thirty and forty, when 
it reaches its largest size. Beyond this period, as age advances, the 
brain grows gradually less, losing about one ounce each ten years for 
the remainder of life. A child at the age when the brain is growing 
most actively should be well fed and guarded from over-excitement, and 
especially from overcrowding at school. The hardest mental work 
done by school children should be at the time when both body and 
mind are at the height of their power, and that is during the forenoon. 
Night work, to prepare lessons for the next day, should not be permit- 
ted. A very safe rule to follow is this : so long as a child rests quietly 
at night it is not being injured by school work, but when it is restless, 
talks in its sleep, and especially about its lessons, it should be taken 
out of school and away from books until thoroughly rested and re- 
cruited. We all have a double brain : one part of it presides over our 
waking hours only; it produces, or at least makes us conscious of will, 
of all our wants, and the thoughts that fill our waking hours. The other 
commands the servants of the body, keeping them at work independently 
of our thoughts or wishes. In the description of the spine mention was 
made of the spinal cord, which is a prolongation of the brain substance. 
There extends from the brain and spinal cord a vast number of small 
white cords called nerves, which extend to and surround every atom of 
matter composing our bodies. No doubt you have all seen skeleton 
leaves, which ladies prepare by dissolving out from forest leaves all the 
green matter that lies between and among the ribs of the leaves ; if so, 
you must have admired the delicate yet perfect representation of the 
original which the finely interwoven, lace-like ribs and veins present. It 
would be a far more wonderful sight if every part of the human body, 
except the nerves, could be taken away without changing their position; 
so great is their number, and so closely interwoven, that nothing would 
appear to be missing. All nerves go out from the center in pairs 
inclosed in the same sheath. Suppose a telegraph cable extended from 
New York to Chicago, containing two sets of wires, over one of which 
only the messages from the east to the west could be sent, while only 
the return messages could pass over the other. This is something like 
the way the nerves work, except that a totally different class of 
messages go over the two sets of nerves ; for example, the finger touches 
a flame and is burned, a message flashes to the brain the signal 
" danger" quicker than thought, and back goes a message that sets the 



88 NERVES OF MOTION AND SENSATION PARALYSIS. 

muscles at work to draw the finger out of the flame. Those nerves 
which convey signals to the brain are called nerves of sensation; those 
bringing the return message, nerves of motion. All parts of the body 
exposed to external injury are provided with both kinds of nerves, but 
these have other uses than to guard us from danger. Ever} 7 conscious 
effort we make is accomplished through them. If we wish to walk the 
nerves of sensation notify the brain, the nerves of motion set going 
the muscles which enable us to move. Sometimes the connection 
between the brain and a group of these nerves is interfered with. A 
familiar example of what follows we have probably all experienced — 
that is, we have had the " foot-go-to-sleep." Sitting in an unusual posi- 
tion, so as to partially stop the flow of blood to it, is the cause; the 
nerves are also stunned by pressure; the foot for the instant is para- 
lyzed, and on attempting to move it there is no power to do so — it feels 
like a dead weight. After moving the foot a little the blood begins to 
circulate more freely, there is felt the most intense agony for a moment 
as the nerves wake up. 

Instances are known where drunkards have produced permanent 
paralysis of one arm, by laying the head upon it during a long drunken 
sleep. Paralysis is a loss of power. It may be due to something wrong 
in the brain, which prevents it from sending out messages or recognizing 
the signals. This is the case after an attack of apoplexy, in softening, 
and some other changes in the brain substance: paralysis may be due 
to disease of the spinal cord, which interrupts the message on its way 
to the brain; again, it may be due to an accident which has severed the 
connection between the nerve and the spinal cord or brain; instead of 
being severed, pressure on the nerve at some point may interfere with 
its work; this is seen when tumors grow in such a way as to press on a 
nerve-branch. Another curious thing about the nervous system is that 
one nerve of a pair, starting from the same root, may be out of order, 
while its mate works perfectly. A nerve of sensation may lose its 
power; then the part which it supplies may be scratched, burned or 
bruised without exciting pain, while it can be moved about as well as 
ever; again, it may be the nerve of motion that is powerless — then, while 
the part can not move, it feels anything that touches it, the same as 
usual. The varieties of paralysis arising from disordered nerves are 
almost innumerable. The subject is only hinted at here for the pur- 
pose of introducing this fact, which is of the utmost importance to thou- 
sands of people every year— for some forms of paralysis are much more 



TWO WAYS OF TREATING "NERVE PAIN. 



8& 



common than the public imagine. It is this: medical advice should be 
sought in every case of paralysis, no matter how slight. Don't wait to 
try electricity, nor any medicine, no matter how many people it is 
reputed to have cured; there is, unfortunately, plenty of time later to 
indulge in experiments in these cases. Almost all the disorders which 
produce paralysis (for it must be remembered that paralysis is only the 
symptom of disease, not the disease itself) can be alleviated if seen 
early enough. In a few cases any treatment of the paralyzed part by 
rubbing, electricity, or the vacuum plan, before the origin of the trouble 
is removed, will produce a new, severe, or even fatal attack. If, on the 
other hand, the patient is left too long without treatment of the para- 
lyzed muscles, they will waste away, and make the case hopeless so far 
as recovering the use of the disabled part. Paralysis of infancy is 
especially important, because if nothing is done the paralyzed member 
will fail to keep pace in growth with the rest of the body, and deform- 
ity will be the result. 

Pain is the cry of a nerve for help. It may be caused by any- 
thing that directly injures the nerve itself, but quite as often it means 
that some organ which the nerve controls is in danger. Again and 
again the cry is repeated; if no help is given it tires of calling in vain, 
and after a time ceases altogether. It is correctly considered a very 
bad sign when pain ceases, and the disease progresses; it very soon 
proves fatal after this stage is reached. There are two ways of treat- 
ing pain. The one is: to give opium, morphine, chloral, or some 
other drug which acts on the nerve, stunning it or putting it to sleep, 
as the case may be, so that it can not cry out. This plan is so popular 
with the sufferer that many physicians content themselves with this 
way of treating every case where pain is present. The other way is to 
seek the cause, remove it, when the nerve ceases to cry. In the former 
the disease goes on, and as soon as the effect of the drug passes off the 
nerve tries again to sound a warning, but is again promptly silenced. 
This goes on till, in many cases, the patient is destroyed, or slowly 
recovers a confirmed opium-eater or chloral-taker, in bondage for the 
balance of life to a drug that destroys both mind and body. This is a 
fact that any physician will confirm — there is no medicine that will 
quickly quiet pain but that has the power of making those who take it 
its slave for life. 

One of the most celebrated living French physicians recently 
stated in public that he has seen so much harm done by opium.. 



90 



THE CAVITIES OF THE BODY. 



FIG 




SIDE VIEW OP THE CAVITIES OF THE BODY. 



L. Base of skull, where the spine joins it. 

K. Kidney. 

€. Bones forming lower end of spine. 

R. Rectum cut off at the top. 

P. Pharynx, or throat. 

V. Large blood vessel carrying blood to the 
brain. 

T. Right branch of Trachea. 

A. Upper part of Left Auricle. 

H. Heart. 

E. Lower end of Breast Bone. 
The spine is removed in this figure, showing only the spinal cord, 
up to 12 mark the ribs. The fine lines are nerves. 

The group S lies immediately behind the stomach; the pressure of a stomach filled with 
food, when a person who has just eaten heartily goes to sleep on his back, hurts these nerves; 
they retaliate by sending messages to the brain that cause the frightful dreams common on 
such occasions, and the worst forma of night-mare. 



a. Nasal duct. 

b. Opening of Eustachian canal. 

c. Instrument inserted through the nostril 

and into the Eustachian canal. 
D. Diaphragm. 
S. The large group of nerve-roots that govern 

the organs of the abdomen, sometimes 

called the abdominal brain. 
U. Umbilicus, or Navel. 
I. Hip bone. 
B. Bladder. 

The figures 1, 2, 3, and 



DANGERS PROM THE USE OF NARCOTICS. 91 

morphine, laudanum and the various other forms of opiates, that he 
never under any circumstances prescribes them except to patients 
suffering from incurable diseases. It would be well if all physicians 
this side of the ocean were as scrupulous in their regard for the well- 
being of humanity. 



92 THE ORGA.NS OF LOCOMOTION. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THE ORGANS OF LOCOMOTION. 

The feet are an essential part of the organs of locomotion. Much 
•of our comfort, and not a little of our health, depend upon our foot 
covering. The present method of dressing the feet distorts them, be- 
sides giving rise to a vast amount of misery. A shoe well adapted to 
the foot of the wearer will not be uncomfortable when first worn, nor 
need "breaking." The difficulty is that common soles are curved on 
the inside line, where they should be straight, which draws the great 
toe to one side and all the toes too closely together, pushing out the 
joint, creating corns between and outside of the toes, and soreness of 
the joint itself. This tendency is increased by straight and narrow- 
toed soles, made worse by high heels, which pitch the foot far forward; 
wearing shoes which are too short also makes trouble in the same 
direction. 

The feet are naturally made in the shape of an arch, because this is 
the strongest form of support, and the foot must support the whole 
weight of the body. They are also curved in outline; in a natural foot 
(very few of them are to be found), a straight line marking the center 
of support will pass from the center of the heel to the ball of the great 
toe. The majority of shoes and boots have a sole shaped so that this 
central line passes beneath the middle toe. They should always be 
" rights and lefts," to correspond with the natural curve of the foot. 
The sole ought to be as wide as the foot. Well-fitting shoes are essen- 
tial to an easy, graceful step; those who have always worn stiff, clumsy 
foot gear have an awkward gait. During natural walking, all the 
muscles of the foot and leg are brought into play; if through stiff 
shoes, high heels, or other defects of foot covering, any of these muscles 
are interfered with or cramped, they do not develop perfectly. If the 
soles are stiff enough to prevent the bending of the foot, there can be 
but little use of the muscles forming the calf of the leg, and which raise 
the heel ; consequently, the calf remains weak and undeveloped, instead 



ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OE PERFECT EOOT COVERING. i)6 

of presenting a full, round muscular appearance, which is necessary to 
a light, easy and elastic step. Mothers should begin to look after their 
■children's feet as soon as they are old enough to wear shoes. These 
should be heelless, long and broad enough. Too short shoes press the 
great toe backward; this throws the great toe joint out prominently on 
the inside of the foot, producing an enlargement or bunion, and some- 
times curves the toes or makes them club-shaped. Too narrow soles 
draws the toes together, or, pressing one or more under the rest, makes 
a deformed foot. The friction of the toes rubbing against each other 
starts soft corns between them. High heels sometimes produce curva- 
ture of the spine, and in growing girls, who are particularly apt to wear 
them, other more serious troubles. The old-fashioned short heels pro- 
duced a broken-down arch, or flat foot. A long (not high) heel is ex- 
cellent for a flat foot, and is the next best thing to no heel at all, as it 
supports the arch most nearly as it is supported when the bare foot is 
pressed upon the ground or floor. 

Other defects in foot covering produce calloused spots on the heel 
or instep, turning of the foot over to one side, which runs the upper of 
boot or shoe over the sole, and neuralgic pain in the feet. A. shoe with 
a curve unsuited to the foot will sometimes strain the ankle severely, 
producing lameness. Loose boots that allow the foot to slide forward, 
or the heel to slip up and down, are as bad as those which are too 
tight. Hard or stiff leather is another quite as frequent source of 
painful feet as anything we have named; it is equally bad, whether the 
boot be tight or loose. Large wrinkles over the joint sometimes make 
it painful and produce a corn. Some of the qualities which are essen- 
tial to a perfect foot covering are the following: 

It is made of the right shape for the foot upon which it is to be 
worn. 

It is just snug enough to confine the foot, without exciting any un- 
easy feeling. 

The foot goes in easy and naturally, and is not straightened out 
of its natural curve. 

There is length, to allow the toes to move and extend in walking, 
without pressure upon the nails. 

There is width, to let the toes lie side by side, without over- 
lapping. 

The space is entirely filled, while at the same time the foot is 



94 NATURE AND CAUSE OF CORNS AND BUNIONS. 

easy, and can spread out as the weight of the body is thrown upon it, 
without exciting pain. 

If the shoe spreads out, so that the uppers overrun the sole, it is 
not wide enough, or is not the right shape. 

Corns and Bunions. — Common corns are produced by the 
chafing and pressure of the foot against the leather of the boot, or by 
crowding the toes together. The cuticle grows thick and hard in the 
effort to protect the true skin. You will remember, in describing the 
skin, the outside (scaly) layer is called the cuticle. This is the material 
from which the nails, hairs, dandruff, etc., are made. The thick skin on 
the sole of the foot, and the calloused place on the hand, are formed of 
the cuticle. It has no feeling, is horny and hard ; it possesses the peculiar 
property of becoming thicker under a moderate amount of pressure or 
rubbing. The true skin beneath it is a network of vessels and nerves r 
all ending in a little loop; each loop contains a blood vessel and nerve. 
If you examine a piece of sole leather, the part called the grain repre : 
sents the cuticle, the thicker portion the true skin. 

If the true skin be irritated by pressure or friction, the minute 
loops will grow longer; the cuticle at the same time grows over them, 
forming warts upon the hand or corns on the feet. If the loops of 
blood vessels are enlarged, they look like red points and give the name 
"seed warts," "seed corns" to these excrescences. The pressure of 
the boot hurts the sensitive loops more at one point than another; here 
the cuticle will form thicker, becoming dry and hard, and causing pain 
by pressure on the nerves. 

This kind of corn can be cured only by burning out the roots. 
Corns which form between the toes are soft, because kept constantly 
moist with perspiration. Those forming on the sole of the foot or the 
ball of the great toe cause the greatest suffering, because any attempt 
to walk presses hard upon them. They are caused by some uneven- 
ness of the boot sole, by a peg, or by wrinkles or seams in stockings. 
Sometimes the darning of stockings makes thicker patches; the pres- 
sure will be greater over these, and they will produce corns. Passing 
the fingers carefully over the boot sole on the inside will reveal a promi- 
nent point where the corn on the sole of the foot comes in contact with 
the boot. This is sometimes so slight as not to be easily detected. 
The composition or patent soles are most liable to have an irregular 
surface after they are partially worn out. To preserve the corn from 
pressure use felt soles in the boots, with a hole cut out corresponding 



VARIOUS METHODS OF CUEING CORNS. 95 

to the situation of the corn, or use several layers of old linen covered 
with cosmoline in the same way. Ordinary hard corns, when first 
formed, may be cured by soaking the foot in hot water softened with 
lye or soda for fifteen or twenty minutes, then scraping off the callous 
skill and prying out the corn with a pen knife; use a dull blade; do not 
cut beneath the skin. The whole secret of a permanent cure is to 
remove the cause. A frequent question asked the corn doctor is : " Will 
this corn grow again?" We can reply that invariably it will grow 
again if the same foot covering is worn as before. 

Treatment Of Corns. — There are many ways of curing corns; 
but as the remedy which fails in one case may succeed in another, sev- 
eral of the best modes of treatment are given, that the reader may have 
a choice: 

1. The chiropodist uses a small knife, made on purpose, for re- 
moving corns. When the corn is fully ripe, a membrane separates it 
from the true skin, so it can be peeled out without injuring the true 
skin. Nitro-muriatic acid or aqua regia is the ordinary secret remedy 
of "corn curers." (It is a violent and dangerous poison, and should 
never be handled carelessly, left in the way of children, or spilled on 
the skin). They apply a little to the corn with a glass brush, or a soft 
pine stick ; afterwards they " elevate the grain " on the point of a 
pen-knife. 

2. Take a thick piece of soft leather, larger than the corn; punch 
a hole in the center the size of the top of the corn, spread the leather 
with adhesive plaster, and apply it around the corn. The hole in the 
leather may be filled at bed time with a paste made of soda and soap. 
In the morning remove the plaster, and wash the corn clean with warm 
water. Repeat this several nights, and the corn will disappear. The 
only precaution is not to repeat the application to produce pain. 

3. This method will permanently remove the worst corn, provided 
that only soft, perfectly- fitting stockings and boots are worn. During 
the day apply felt or sticking plaster, having a hole in the center for 
the corn to project through. Before applying the plaster in the morn- 
ing, rub the corn with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. At 
night rub it with strong soft soap for several minutes — then soak it in 
warm water for some time; afterward scrape off with a blunt knife all 
the soft, pulpy matter outside the corn, but stop scraping the moment 
pain is felt. Apply the same liniment as in the morning. Keep this 



96 TREATMENT OF INGROWING NAILS. 

treatment up from ten days to two weeks. If discontinued too soon, 
the corn will grow again. 

4. When a corn keeps reappearing after being removed, touch the 
central point only, with nitric acid or caustic, but do not apply when 
the corn is very sensitive. Corns on the bottom of the foot nearly 
always need a caustic to completely remove them. They may be greatly 
softened by binding on at bed time a pad of cloth saturated with a 
penetrating liniment. Sometimes a slice of bacon bound on will answer 
the purpose very well. 

5. Soft corns. — Dissolve a piece of ammonia the size of a bean in 
an ounce of water, and apply hot. Another way to treat them is to 
wash them clean, and then apply glacial acetic acid — a very small 
amount on a soft pine stick or a cork. Be careful to let none of it touch 
the sound skin, and separate the toes with a bit of cotton. Eepeat this 
every night at bed time. If it makes them sore or inflamed, omit it 
until they are better. 

Inflamed and maturating corns need to be opened. An old or feeble 
patient must not use caustics, neither should their corns be cut. Blood 
poisoning and death have been known to follow a neglect of this advice. 

Inflamed bunions are greatly benefited by warm foot baths 
and applications of tincture of iodine. Paint it over the bunion once 
a day; open it when matter forms. Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone 
Liniment removes the inflammation. It should be applied on a sponge 
or linen cloth saturated with it, and bound on all night. Sore insteps, 
enlarged joints and corns can be relieved from pressure by having 
shoes made over a last which is provided with leather bunches over the 
parts corresponding to the tender places on the feet. 

An Ingrowing Nail is another trouble caused by too short or 
too narrow shoes. Soak the feet a long time, until the nail as well as the 
flesh is softened; take a piece of glass or a dull knife blade and scrape 
the nail lengthwise down the center from the end to the root, thinning 
a narrow space about an eighth of an inch wide, almost down to the 
quick. This destroys the arch of the nail, and when pressure narrows 
the toe the nail will be thrown up in a ridge along the center, instead 
of being pushed down into the flesh at the corners. If the nail has 
begun to grow down take a wooden tooth-pick, dip it in pure crystalized 
carbolic acid, melted by heat ; then press it down deeply between the 
nail and* the flesh. This cauterizes the flesh, turning it white as if 



EFFECT OF WEARING TIGHT GAETEES. 97 

scalded. A few hours afterward soak the feet in warm water, and try 
to trim off and pull out the edges of the nail. If too painful, apply the 
carbolic acid as before and wait again. This is tedious, but not as 
severe as to have the nail pulled out by the roots, as the surgeon some- 
times has to do in very bad cases. After removing the edges of the 
nail, dress the raw surface with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. 

Chilblains are caused by frost-bites. To allay the terrible itching 
bathe with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. If the skin be 
broken apply an ointment spread on linen, made of sweet mutton, 
tallow and prepared chalk; stir them together while the tallow is warm. 
Zinc ointment as prepared by the druggist is useful for old ulcerated 
chilblains. 

Cold or damp feet are very damaging to the health. Stepping 
out of a warm bed upon a cold floor or oil cloth sends chills all over 
one who is strong; such an act endangers the life of those who are weak 
or delicate. Soaking the feet in hot water at the beginning of a cold 
relieves the oppressed breathing, and soothes the irritated membrane 
of the throat and nose; the comfort it gives is so marked that the hot 
foot bath is an almost universal remedy for a cold at its commence- 
ment. The blood drawn into the feet starts up the circulation, which 
is always made slower at first by the shock of a chill ; the heat of the 
-water helps replace that which has been lost; the pores open under its 
influence, free perspiration unloads the system, and the cold is cured. 
It is only when taken at the start that the hot foot bath accomplishes 
this. The effect of cold feet due to feeble circulation is no less serious 
because it does not produce the immediate effect that a sudden chill 
does. So perfectly is the circulation of the blood through the body 
adjusted, that any interference with it affects every part. Each heart- 
beat moves forward every atom of blood in the body. Suppose the 
vessels in the leg are compressed by tight garters (and any garter that 
will hold the stocking up must compress these vessels), the blood pro- 
pelled by the heart to that point partially rebounds as it meets the 
obstruction; this affects the whole column of blood back to the heart 
itself, and causes a strain on the valve that in time weakens it. If 
there be weak points in the blood vessels, there will be a gradual giv- 
ing away at those points, producing piles or aneurism, according to 
the location. Notice that it is not claimed that tight garters alone are 
responsible for heart disease, piles or aneurism. This illustration of 
obstruction was selected because a familiar one; it is seldom that they 
are snug enough to produce the worst effects from interference with 



»8 RUBBER OVERSHOES INJURE THE FEET. 

the circulation, but they do give rise to cold feet, to swelling of feet 
and limbs below the knees. The feet are never cold except when there 
is inactive circulation through them, therefore less blood is being 
carried to them than usual; there is about the same amount of blood in 
the vessels at all times, and therefore if there is less in the feet there must 
be more collected elsewhere — in other words, the equilibrium of circula- 
tion is disturbed, so that wherever you find cold feet you will find con- 
gestion, or an excessive amount of blood somewhere else in the body. 
Obstruction may exist at many points; it may be from an accumulation 
of fecal matter in the bowels, from overloaded stomach, from tight 
clothing; whatever it may be it checks the force with which the blood 
is sent onward from that point through the veins; the latter are apt to 
grow knotted, and gradually enlarge forming varicose veins, or con- 
gestion of some internal organ. The feet naturally perspire easily and 
freely ; the covering must permit the escape of moisture as it is evap- 
orated. "Water proof boots confine the moisture, and when worn 
day after day the feet become water soaked, making them tender, and 
they blister easily. 

Rubbers should be removed when sitting in the house. The feet 
should be bathed in tepid water after being soaked in perspiration 
in rubber boots. Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment is an 
excellent embrocation to remove any soreness. Cork soles covered 
with wool or flannel, worn inside rubber boots or overshoes, help to 
keep the feet warm. Rubber boots become very foul after they have 
been worn some time; the sweat adhering to them becomes a breeding 
place for bacteria, making them unfit for wear. This may be remedied 
by washing them out occasionally with carbolized water (see appendix 
for method of preparing). During cold or rainy weather woolen stock- 
ings are the healthier worn with leather boots and shoes. Fleece-lined 
cotton hose are the best substitute when woolen can not be worn. 

Foetid Feet. — Occasionally persons are met with who are afflicted 
with a most offensive odor of the feet. This is not always due to lack 
of cleanliness, but is a disease. Treatment: Dissolve a lump of alum 
the size of a walnut in a gallon of hot water. Bathe the feet with soap 
and water, and afterwards soak them in the hot alum water for half an 
hour. Have ready clean stockings and a new pair of boots that have 
not been worn before, to put on after the first treatment; until cured 
do not put on any leather foot covering that has been worn before. 
Repeat the alum bath every night. It takes about a fortnight to effect 



DIGESTION, AND THE INFLUENCES WHICH MODIFY IT. 



CHAPTER IX. 

BUILDING AND REPAIRING. — DIGESTION, AND THE INFLUENCES 
WHICH MODIFY IT. 

The process of building up our bodies, and keeping them in repair, 
is a complicated one. Our part of the work consists in supplying food, 
drink and fresh air in sufficient quantity for the servant's use. There 
are needed not less than ninety different elements to construct all the 
parts of the wonderful structure which forms the "temple of the soul." 
Nature can not make something out of nothing ; therefore, if we fail to 
furnish sufficient material, we must expect some portion of our body to 
be defective, and poorly repaired. On the other hand, certain mate- 
rials must be furnished sparingly, just enough, no more; for our servants 
are economical, and always ready to lay up a store against " a rainy 
day," when they have anything to spare. Our storeroom is limited; 
for example, most of the excess of starchy foods becomes fat that, 
beyond a moderate accumulation, is a burden. Excess of salts, especially 
in the aged, is deposited around the joints, in the blood vessels, and 
elsewhere, interfering with the movement of the joints, and the circu- 
lation of the blood. 

Digestion is the process by which food of every variety is trans- 
formed into blood; the work is carried on in the alimentary canal, which 
extends from the lips to the anus. It is about thirty feet long, and is 
lined with a soft, fine membrane, resembling that covering the lips and 
mouth. The business of changing a mouthful of food into blood includes- 
grinding, soaking, softening, churning, and a great variety of chemical 
work, so complicated in its nature that if we were compelled to give 
our attention to it, keeping up the fire, supplying water and the neces- 
sary chemicals just when they are needed, removing the wastes, and 
distributing impartially the elements separated and prepared by diges- 
tion, it would leave us no time for the affairs of life; we should be in 
the condition of a machine which expends all its force keeping itself in 
rrunniag order, therefore useless for any practical purpose. Digestion 



100 THE WORK DONE BY THE SALIVA. 

begins in the mouth; it is important that the work done in the mouth 
be thorough — that is, the food ought to be chewed slowly to grind it 
line and mix it well with the fluids which accumulate there. All food 
should be thoroughly chewed. 

You must have noticed how the " mouth waters " when anything 
smells particularly good to eat; this water is the saliva, or spittle, 
formed in the salivary glands. There are six of them: one in each 
cheek, one under the tongue on each side, one behind and below the 
lower jaw on each side. They are capable of pouring out 3^ pints of 
saliva daily; do not imagine that this large amount of fluid is stored in 
the cheeks and under the tongue — it is made as it is wanted. The sense 
of smell sends a message to these glands that food is to be taken, 
therefore saliva is needed; they immediately respond by drawing the 
materials of which it is made from the universal store-house — the 
blood — and pour it into the mouth. There it moistens the food, soften- 
ing and lubricating it to fit it for swallowing; but it does more than this : 
it begins the work of turning all starchy portions of food into grape- 
sugar, the only form in which it is of any use to the system. Those 
who bolt their food throw additional labor upon the stomach, which not 
unfrequently proves to be the " last straw." 

The Method of Conveying Food to the Stomach.— The 

mouth is bounded behind by a movable curtain called the soft palate; 
when a morsel is ready to be swallowed, this curtain is raised up to 
close the openings into the nose, that lie directly behind it; the valve 
which guards the windpipe is pressed firmly down, the morsel glides 
over it, back into the opening of the gullet (oesophagus) ; it does not 
slip down at once, but is caught by the muscles at the top which press 
it down, little by little, until it reaches the entrance to the stomach. It 
is not because we are sitting up that the food goes down; we could 
swallow, standing on our head. The way the food is grasped and 
pushed downward by the muscles may be observed in the neck of a cow 
or horse, while drinking with the head down. When the throat is 
swollen, in consequence of a cold, the soft palate will sometimes fail to 
cover the nasal passages completely, then a crumb may be forced up 
into them in the act of swallowing; this produces intense distress, with 
violent cough, until it is forced out. A crumb, or coffee grain, falling 
into the windpipe, will almost strangle one; in rare cases it may be 
driven into the opening of the Eustachian tube, causing intense 
nervousness with almost constant attempts at swallowing; this accident 



EFFECT OF TIGHT LACING. 101 

has been known to bring on spasms. When the throat is in this condi- 
tion, it is better to take nothing but liquid food, milk, broth, porridge, 
and the like, until the swelling has gone down. The length of the 
oesophagus is about nine inches; at its lower end it joins the stomach, 
as shown in Fig. 11. 

The Stomach. — The Scotchman's bag-pipe is made of a pig's 
stomach; ours is like it in shape. It varies considerably in size; in an 
adult, when moderately full, it measures twelve inches across from side 
to side, and is about four inches deep. In the case of gluttons it has 
been known to attain an enormous size, extending down to the lowest 
part of the abdomen, and entirely across the front of the body. Ordi- 
narily it is full when it contains a gill, but will easily hold a quart; 
both stomach and intestines are capable of stretching out to hold a 
much larger quantity than usual. As the lungs expand, it is pressed down- 
ward by the diaphragm ; as they contract to expel the air, it rises. Its posi- 
tion varies according to whether it is full or empty. It lies to the left, in 
front of the spleen, when empty, and is covered by the left lobe of the 
liver. The under surface of the heart lies just above and a little in 
front of it, with the diaphragm and liver between them (see Fig. 12). 
This position of the heart explains why neuralgia of the stomach is sup- 
posed by the sufferer to be located in the heart, and why it is accom- 
panied by palpitation and irregular pulse. The diaphragm is pushed 
upward by a full stomach; this narrows the cavity of the chest and gives 
rise to difficult breathing, which troubles many people directly after 
eating. Tight lacing pushes the stomach downward, therefore it can 
be filled only as it crowds the organs of the abdomen out of the way, 
making the latter more prominent than natural, and indirectly produc- 
ing serious displacement of some of the organs. The wall of the 
stomach is made of three layers of muscles; the fibers in the outer layer 
shorten it as they contract ; those of the middle layer go around it mak- 
ing it narrower; the inner layer contracts it obliquely, drawing the wall 
down firmly upon the contents. These muscles are constantly contract- 
ing and relaxing, when there is food in the stomach, keeping up a 
churning motion. The stomach is in all respects a second mouth: it 
has lips that open to admit and close to retain the food which the 
muscles of the throat, like hands, present to it; the food is rolled from side 
to side, till it is thoroughly mixed with the gastric juice, which is 
secreted by little glands located in its walls, just as the saliva is secreted 
by similar glands lying within the cheeks and beneath the tongue. 



102 



ANATOMY OF THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 



When the work of the stomach is complete, its contents are propelled 
onward and out of it, very much as the food is carried from the mouth 
to the stomach in the act of swallowing. To make the parallel complete, 




DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 



L. Liver turned up to show the stomach behind it. 

C. The cardiac, or large end of the stomach, which lies nearest the heart. 

P. The pylorus, or lower opening of the stomach. This is the part where cancer is most 
frequently located. 

G. Gullet, or oesophagus. 

A. Pancreas, or sweet bread. 
E. Spleen, or milt. 

B. Gall-bladder. The tube connecting this with the intestine just below the pylorus is 
sometimes closed by catarrhal inflammation, which prevents the flow of bile from the gall-blad- 
der; it then becomes thick, and forms into round masses called gall-stones. 

O. Ascending colon, or large intestine, passing up along the right side of the abdomen. 
P. Transverse colon, bent down to show the connection of stomach with intestine. 

D. Descending colon, passing down the left side of the abdomen. 
R. Rectum, or lower end of theiritpstinps 

a. The anus, or external opening of the bowel. 
M. Small intestine. 

I. Ciecuni, or blind end of the large intestine. 

V. Worm-like attachment to the ca;cum. It is a small hollow tube, the use of which is 
unknown— if it has any. Cherry stones and grape seeds have been know^n to lodge in it, and pro- 
duce an abscess that destroyed life in a, very short time. It is difficult to detect this trouble dur- 
ing life. 



QUALITIES OF HEALTHY GASTEIC JUICE. 103 

some animals — not man — have teeth in the stomach. The amount of 
gastric juice formed in the stomach of an active, healthy man, weighing 
140 lbs., is about 37 lbs. each 24 hours. At first thought this seems 
incredible, because it greatly exceeds the weight of blood out of which 
it is taken; but when we reflect that only a few ounces of gastric juice 
is present in the stomach at any time, that it is re-absorbed as soon as 
digestion is complete, and that it is continually being secreted and 
absorbed, the estimate is probably not too great. This subject has been 
thoroughly studied in connection with persons who, in consequence of 
an accident, have had a permanent external opening in the stomach 
through which the work of digestion could be watched from beginning 
to end. Healthy gastric juice is a clear, colorless fluid, inodorous, a 
little saltish, and very perceptibly acid. It is powerfully antiseptic, 
checking the putrefaction of meat, destroying disease germs and worms, 
and is very healing to ulcerated surfaces. The substance which gives 
gastric juice its peculiar power may be separated and dried, forming 
a grayish mass, which is called pepsin. A similar substance may be 
obtained by soaking in water the lining membrane of a pig's stomach, 
or the fourth stomach of a calf. A small portion of pepsin dissolved in 
water, or the solution obtained by soaking rennet with the addition 
of a few drops of the acid of common salt (hydro-chloric acid), or that 
which is found in sour milk (lactic acid), forms an artificial gastric 
juice that will dissolve meat, or bread, or other articles of food One 
part of pepsin dissolved in 60,000 parts of water containing a few drops 
of acid will have this effect, if kept at about 98^° — the temperature of 
the body. 

The secretion of gastric juice is affected by various circumstances. 
Cold water renders the lining of the stomach pale for a time, and dimin- 
ishes the secretion, but this soon returns more freely. Ice, however, 
in large quantities, checks it for a long period, as also do alcoholic 
liquors, all kinds of irritating agents, like powerful medicines and 
highly -spiced sauces. Anxiety, anger, or vexation frequently diminish 
or altogether suspend the supply of gastric fluids, and, occurring at the 
commencement of digestion, even if temporary, they retard the entire 
process. Anger can cause an influx of bile into the stomach; this fluid 
puts a stop to the action of the gastric juice. The work of the stomach 
is complete when the food has been transformed into a grayish mass, 
called chyme. During the time when this is taking place, the muscle 
which guards the lower orifice of the stomach at the pylorus selects the 



104 GASTEIC JUICE IS CAPABLE OF DISSOLVING LIVE OBJECTS. 

fluids and allows them to pass through, but refuses the more solid por- 
tions until they are changed into chyme, or until a sufficient time has 
elapsed to complete this change ; then everything is allowed to pass out 
of the stomach to the upper part of the intestine, where it is mixed with 
bile, and the juice formed in the pancreas (sweet bread). These fluids 
have an important work to do before the chyme is ready to serve its 
purpose. 

During the entire period of stomach digestion the food is churned 
about and kept constantly in motion, the walls of the stomach contract- 
ing down upon it as the quantity diminishes. When additional food is 
taken before digestion is finished, the new portion is carried into the 
center of the mass; but it is liable to interfere with the work setting up 
fermentation with acidity, the formation of gas and other symptoms 
of dyspepsia. 

The length of time required for food to be thoroughly disposed of 
varies with the kind, the individual and other circumstances — such as 
repose or excitement and condition of body. Vegetables are generally 
slower of digestion than meats and starchy substances. Tables have 
been prepared showing the average time required for the principal 
articles of food, but are of little value, owing to the numerous excep- 
tions to them. An ordinary meal of mixed diet, animal and vegetable, 
requires from four to five hours for complete digestion. 

Since the gastric juice is capable of dissolving nearly all organic 
substances, the question arises, Why does it not dissolve the walls of the 
stomach itself? It does so after death, if any remains in the stomach; 
it was formerly believed that the gastric juice can not attack living 
objects, but this has been disproved in the following way : Frogs have 
been fastened in the stomach of animals in such a way that the hind 
legs were enveloped in gastric juice; they were digested while their 
owners were alive. It is clear, then, that the presence of life is not suf- 
ficient to account for the protection of the stomach, and so far no rea- 
sonable explanation has been offered. Just what purpose the bile serves, 
is still a question upon which physiologists are not agreed. Some of its 
uses are known, but not all. 

Dr. Dalton tried the following experiment to determine the effect 
when bile is prevented from mingling with the chyme: Two dogs 
were the subjects. The gall duct was opened, so that the bile should 
flow out externally. The symptoms were constant and progressive loss 
of flesh, until every trace of fat disappeared from the body. The loss 



ALL FOOD RESEMBLES MILK AFTER IT IS DIGESTED. 105' 

of flesh amounted, in one case, to more than two-fifths ; in the other, 
to nearly one-half the entire weight of the animal. There was also a 
falling off of the hair, and an unusually disagreeable odor in the 
breath. Notwithstanding this, the appetite remained good; digestion 
was not essentially interfered with. There was no pain, and death 
took place at last by simple, gradual failure of the vital powers. 

Languor and debility are common when the supply of bile is les- 
sened, or is not extracted from the blood as needed. The quantity 
formed daily in an active adult is from 3 to 4 pounds. The chyme ia 
gradually changed into chyle by the various fluids added to it after 
passing out of the stomach. Chyle closely resembles in color, smell 
and consistency sweet milk. It may be truthfully said that the diet 
which nourishes mankind from the cradle to the grave is milk, and 
milk alone, because every particle of food must be made over into this 
form before it can be mingled with the blood. 

There are muscles in the intestines that alternately contract and 
relax, giving them a peculiar motion, which is called vermicular, mean- 
ing worm-like, because it resembles the movement of a worm in crawl- 
ing. As they contract, the chyle is pushed forward and squeezed into 
little tubes located in the inner coat of the intestines. These are lac- 
teals (milk vessels) ; they carry the chyle into glands, in which about 
one-half becomes corpuscles, or blood- disks; it is then collected, car- 
ried up to the neck and poured into a large vein, where it is mixed 
with the blood and carried on into the heart, from whence it is sent to 
the lungs, where occurs the final change which makes the chyle into 
blood. This work is very imperfectly done when the air taken into 
the lungs is deficient in oxygen ; the blood carried out from them will be- 
dark colored instead of bright red, as it should be. This gives the 
lips a bluish tinge, instead of their natural hue. The cheeks and 
finger-tips will be dark red instead of pink. Tight corsets, diseased 
lungs or heart are sometimes the cause of blue lips and finger-tips; 
breathing the same air over and over again produces a similar effect. 

Hunger is the mainspring which keeps going all the business of 
life. Nature has arranged to supply the necessaries of life according 
to their urgency. The act of breathing can not be delayed ; all around 
us is an abundance of air, always fit for use, unless polluted by man. 
We can bear thirst but a short time, and water is found everywhere 
that man needs to live. We can go for a long time without food, and 
for that we must strive. Even the animals in the state of nature must 



106 THE CAUSE OF THE SENSATION CALLED HUNGER. 

work before they can eat. The flesh-eater must hunt its prey; the 
vegetable- feeder must gather its meal little by little. In this day it is 
rare for man to starve ; the danger lies in excess, because a great variety 
of food tempts the appetite. The natural, unperverted taste is the 
best guide to the selection of diet; but this kind of taste is seldom found. 
Mothers begin to spoil the taste of their offspring before they have 
their teeth. Babies have very little perfect saliva or very little of the 
similar fluid that is formed by the pancreas ; therefore, they can not di- 
gest starchy food perfectly, yet nothing is more common than to see 
them stuffed with preparations containing corn starch or arrow-root. 
Mothers very often feed their little ones with the same as they themselves 
eat; such diet is unfitted for the undeveloped digestive organs of 
infancy. Mixed diet, such as meat, potatoes and other vegetables, ought 
not to be given until the double teeth are cut. They will cause distress, 
colic, diarrhoea, or fretfulness. Summer complaint is not seldom due to 
unsuitable food. If given at all, it is less harmful when the mother 
chews it — but never let any one else than the mother feed a baby with 
chewed food; you can not be certain but that blood disease may be given 
the child in this way. 

Highly seasoned food destroys the natural sense of taste, and 
makes it an unsafe guide. Too great a variety of food at each meal 
also perverts the natural taste, as do also pickles, preserves and rich 
pastry. Taking into account the almost universal practice of high 
seasoning, great variety, and artificial preparations, it is little wonder 
that people in civilized society can no longer trust to their taste alone 
in the selection of their diet. 

The sensation of hunger is Nature's method of making known that 
there is a want of elements to repair wastes. That ravenous appetite 
with which one is sometimes annoyed, that can not be satisfied even by 
filling the stomach to its utmost, is generally due to the want of some 
element which the food eaten does not contain, or the inability of the 
digestive organs to extract that particular element from the supply 
offered them. Such an appetite is more quickly satisfied by changing 
the diet for a time, than by eating a largely increased amount of the 
usual food. This fact should be fixed in mind — it is the amount of 
food digested which sustains life. It makes no difference how much 
may be eaten, it is only that portion which is transformed into chyle that 
passes into the blood — all else is waste. Those who have the care of the 
sick too often lose sight of this important truth, and, especially in the 



MEALS SHOULD OCCUR AT REGULAR INTERVALS. 107 

case of children, persuade them to eat when their stomachs need to- 
have rest. Persons who lead quiet, inactive lives are greatly troubled 
when their appetite fails ; the probability is, in all such cases, that the 
bodily supplies have been too generous; they have furnished more than 
was needed. The better course for them is to eat sparingly for a time, 
or exercise more; this is a better recipe for restoring their lost appetite 
than can be found in the medical books. 

The number Of meals a day are not, without reason, usually 
three. The savage may go for a day or more without eating, and then 
gorge himself with anything he can get; but that does not prove that his 
way is a desirable one. Three meals a day give time for food to digest, 
for the stomach to rest, and for business to be carried on, while these 
intervals do not leave time for the body to become exhausted for lack of 
food. Children need to eat oftener, while growing; -five meals a day 
are not too many. They need controlling in their diet; that is one duty 
of parents, to give their children healthy stomachs and sound constitu- 
tions; these can not be built up on sweet-cake, pie and candy. Coffee 
and tea should not be given to children at all. These are stimulants, 
and enable people to use what strength they have without giving them 
any more; therefore, they should not be indulged in until growth is 
complete. When it is thought best to give a warm drink with meals, 
let it be hot water and milk, which does not, like tea and coffee, lessen 
the appetite for solid food. 

Food Should be Taken at Regular Intervals.— The 

muscles are kept hard at work during digestion, moving the food about, 
the glands are busy in forming the fluids which act upon the food; these 
parts wear out by work, and during rest recruit their strength. When 
they are given no opportunity for rest, they become weak and do their 
work imperfectly. Most people do not consider fruit, candy, pop-corn 
and other articles so generally eaten between meals, in the light of food ; 
yet the process of digestion must be carried on the same to dispose of 
them as for the regular meal. The numerous fruit stands and candy 
stores in the city, and the apple bin in the country, have quite as much 
to do with the prevalence of dyspepsia as the hot bread and fried pork 
at which so many anathemas have been hurled. Gum-chewing is 
another prolific source of dyspepsia. The act of chewing stimulates 
the salivary glands to work when they should be resting, and the conse- 
quence is that the inveterate gum-chewer has saliva of poor quality, defi- 
cient in important elements. 



108 NECESSITY OF EXERCISE FOR THE DIGESTIVE ORGANS. 

Amount Of Food Required.— An adult person needs food to 
replace that used up by the exercise of the muscles, and the work done 
by the various organs and to keep the machinery in repair; the child 
must have, in addition, material for growth. There are heat and force 
to be provided for also. It requires less heat to keep the bodily tem- 
perature uniform during the warm season; therefore, less heat produc- 
ing food is called for. Those who do severe muscular labor use up 
material more rapidly than those who lead lives of leisure, and therefore 
need more food. The aged, who are compelled by the infirmities of 
advancing years to cease from active labor, should eat less than 
formerly. It will be seen that there can be no fixed rule about the 
amount to be eaten daily. Each one must be his own guide in this 
matter; however, this rule is a safe one to follow. So long as the 
body is healthy, increasing slightly in weight during cold weather, 
losing a little in warm weather, and the stomach carries on its work 
so perfectly that its possessor is not aware, from any disagreeable sen- 
sations, that he has a stomach, there is no occasion to vary the usual 
diet. The habit of taking too much at a time stretches out the stomach 
far beyond its natural size. In time it becomes permanently enlarged 
and incapable of properly digesting a small amount at a time. When 
over-stretched by its contents, the muscles which produce the churning 
effect can not contract to do their work — consequently, the food remains 
a long time unchanged. 

The Stomach Must Have Exercise.— The old adage says, 

" It is better to wear out than to rust out." It is certain that Nature has 
planned that those organs which are especially concerned in preserv- 
ing life must work, and we must see that there are no hindrances 
placed in their way. The stomach was made to perform a laborious 
task; exercise, in reducing the mixed collection of articles furnished it 
into a uniform mass, strengthens it. Some bulky food is needed to 
distend it — to give the muscles something to grasp as they contract. 
Those who have suffered from attempts to vomit when the stomach was 
empty know how distressing it is. A hint is in place here. In all 
cases of vomiting give warm water in large quantities — a quart if pos- 
sible. This gives the muscles something to act upon, and, as it is 
thrown out, give more, until the stomach is thoroughly washed out ; it 
will then be quiet, unless the nausea is caused by some disorder located 
elsewhere. Another reason for giving bulky food is that a craving will 
be felt until the stomach is sufficiently filled; therefore, one is apt to 



FOOD MAY BE SELECTED SO AS TO RECTIFY UNHEALTHY CONDITIONS. 109 

eat too much when the food contains little bulk. For example, half a 
pound of fresh beef is enough for a meal, yet a pound will not fill it. 
Cheese is a very nutritious food, but too concentrated to eat alone; 
therefore, bread or cake is always taken with it. Give a horse grain 
without hay or straw, and the animal will fail in health and strength. 

Application of this principle. — Since common articles of food 
contain different amounts of bulky wastes, it is beneficial to make 
such a selection for the sick as will best assist the action of the medi- 
cines they are taking. 

When there is a iendency to sluggishness of the bowels with con- 
stipation, the more bulky food is needed to excite them to action. Gra- 
ham bread, owing to the amount of bran it contains, is very popular 
for this purpose ; baked apples and other fruit, with such vegetables as 
can be digested, are also beneficial. In cases of diarrhoea, dysentery, 
and other disorders that affect the bowels, such articles as beef tea, 
milk, arrow-root, which contain little waste, are more suitable. Milk con- 
tains 'ail the elements of the body in a form that requires less labor to 
fit it for making blood than any other material, but it does not give the 
healthy stomach enough to do when it is taken as the only food. In 
many diseases, for the young, the aged, and the very feeble, it fre- 
quently becomes necessary to relieve the digestive organs from as much 
labor as possible; then a milk diet is the very best that can be selected. 
Milk in the stomach is separated into curd and whey; if a large quantity 
be taken at once, the amount of curd formed may be too great for a 
feeble organ to dispose of ; it will then cause distress and a feeling of 
weight or oppression, which will lead the patient to suppose milk un- 
suitable. All cases confined to this diet will thrive better when it is 
. given in small quantity, at regular intervals; a half pint every three 
hours can be taken when a pint three times a day can not be borne 
at all. 

The various juices or secretions required for a mixed diet are pre- 
pared as they are needed ; some of them are not formed at all when 
liquids alone have for a long time been the only food. A broken jaw, 
an accident that burns the throat (as swallowing a poison), a stricture 
of the gullet, etc., permits only liquid food to be taken for many 
months; the return to solid food must be gradual, to give the glands 
time to resume their work. A neglect of this precaution will produce 
severe dyspepsia. 

Tight Corsets and Waist-bands Hinder Digestion.— 

These interfere with the movement of ribs and diaphragm, which, as we 



110 CONSEQUENCE OF GOING TO BED HUNGRY. 

have seen, push the stomach up and down, as the breath goes in and out 
of the lungs, and help to keep its contents in motion. Stooping over a 
desk, or sewing while the stomach is full, hinders its motion; this habit 
makes the stomach and liver torpid, and also lessens the vermicular 
motion of the intestines, which is always most active during digestion. 

Fatigue Delays Digestion.— Those who have become exhausted 
from hard work suffer during digestion, if they eat heartily before they 
become rested. A cup of beef extract, milk or light nourishment taken 
a short time before the regular meal will fit them to digest well. Soup 
for a first course fills this need admirably. When digestion is difficult 
a tired, exhausted sensation accompanies it; but as soon as the act is 
complete, and the prepared food is being distributed throughout the 
system, this feeling passes off, and vigor succeeds it. 

Elating at Bed-time. — So far as supper just before bed-time is 
concerned, experience is the best guide. It is never prudent to retire im- 
mediately after eating a very hearty supper, because the weight of the 
distended organ presses on the large blood vessels, especially when 
lying on the back, and checks the circulation; — this produces nightmare. 
Persons who are troubled with too much blood in the head endanger 
their life by retiring with a full stomach. Many people, especially the 
feeble and the aged, sleep better after a light supper; one who goes to 
sleep hungry will awaken tired and weak. The demands of the grow- 
ing body make the appetite keen; the pangs of hunger are far more 
distressing to the young than to grown people ; therefore, select some 
other way of punishing a naughty boy than by sending him supperless 
to bed — it is rank cruelty. 

It is Unhealthy to Eat Very Hot or Very Cold Food- 
Very hot food stimulates the coats of the stomach, and for a little time 
digestion goes on more actively ; but reaction follows stimulation always, 
and then it will be retarded. Cold draws heat out of the walls of the 
stomach, and lowers the temperature below the point at which digestion 
goes on most actively; the natural temperature of the body is the 
one best adapted to this work. 

Pure Air is Necessary to Perfect Digestion.— Those who 

sleep in close, ill-ventilated rooms lose their appetite. In an eastern city, 
the air in a 'sewing-room where many girls were employed, was noticed to 
be very impure; kind ladies, interested in their welfare, succeeded in 
having ventilators put in. After a few weeks the girls almost unani- 



CAUTION REQUIRED IN FEEDING PERSONS ALMOST STARVED. Ill 

mously demanded to have them closed; the fresh air made them so 
hungry they could not afford the extra cost of food on the wages they 
received. A manufacturer once stated before a committee of the British 
parliament that he removed an arrangement for ventilating his estab- 
lishment because his hands ate so much more he could not afford it. 
Seamstresses, school teachers, as well as school children, mechanics, 
factory operatives, and all who labor in the impure air of close rooms- 
have more or less dyspepsia. 

The Skin Exerts an Influence Upon the Digestive 

Organs. — An inactive skin, whether this state be produced by a chill 
or by lack of cleanliness, which permits the pores to become sealed up 
by dirt, affects the internal organs; stomach complaints, biliousness, 
and disordered kidneys sometimes originate from this condition. 

To Restore a Starving Person.— It is extremely dangerous 
to give a person who is greatly exhausted for want of food all he can 
eat, or that which requires much digestion. 

Some of the prisoners in the late war, who were released by 
exchange after nearly perishing from starvation, were allowed to eat 
what they chose, with the result that many of them died of indigestion. 
The stomach, in common with the rest of the body, was weak and unable 
to do its ordinary work. 

When very greatly exhausted, give broth, or soup. In these days 
when canned beef extract may be had at any drug store or grocery, a 
soup can be prepared more quickly than anything else. It should be 
given in small quantity, as a tea-cupful every hour, until the strength 
is increased sufficiently to make solid food safe. Stimulants are 
positively harmful; for, while they may whip up the natural powers 
temporarily, they are almost certain to leave them dangerously 
exhausted. 

The Wastes Must be Evacuated Every Day.— The wastes 

— ashes and smoke — of the fat used up in the body are mostly carried 
off from the lungs as carbonic acid gas. The refuse from muscle-mak- 
ing materials is carried off through the kidneys as urea. The indigesti- 
ble parts of food, such as woody fibers, stones, seeds, skins, etc., with 
other debris, are removed by the bowels. Whenever these wastes are 
not removed, digestion and all other operations of the body go on slowly 
and imperfectly. The fire burns in the stove when the ashes have 
filled all vacant spaces and threaten to envelop the fire itself, even 



112 HABITS WHICH CAUSE CONSTIPATION. 

when the chimney i3 almost filled with soot, but the fuel gives forth 
little heat with considerable smoke, and constant attention is needed to 
make it burn at all. Similarly, the work of the body is hindered by 
accumulations of waste material. Lack of bulky wastes in the food 
occasions constipation, because there is nothing for those muscles to 
grasp which contract to move the contents of the bowels onward. Lack 
of exercise, or of the right kind of exercise, is the most frequent cause 
of constipation. All kinds of work that keep people in a sitting posture 
during the day — a leisurely life, such as many ladies lead, who spend 
their time on sofas or in easy chairs, and take their out- door exercise in 
a carriage — leads to inactivity of the bowels. Anything which hinders 
the free movement of the diaphragm produces the same effect. 

While referring to the subject of constipation, a word is in place 
regarding the care of children in respect to the calls of nature. They 
should be taught from infancy to be regular in attending to them, for 
habit is everything in securing regularity. The disgraceful provision 
made for school children in country schools is the cause of great suffer- 
ing. Mothers should take it in hand, and see that the school -house is 
provided with decent and comfortable privies. It has been left to the 
men ever since public schools came into existence, with what result an 
examination of the out-buildings of the school-house in your own 
neighborhood will show. The accommodations on the premises of many 
citizens are scarcely better than for the schools. An open vault, with 
air space through which the wind blows freely, has certain advantages 
as regards ventilation that are more than counter-balanced by the expo- 
sure of those compelled to use them. The cold air blowing up against 
and around that part of the body most warmly clad, therefore gener- 
ally moist with perspiration, is responsible for many a mysterious cold ; 
it has cost many a life; it has filled many a doctor's purse at the expense 
of men who thought they could not afford to furnish a comfortable 
privy for their family. 



THE ELEMENTS FURNISHED BY FOOD. 113 



CHAPTEE X. 
WHAT SHALL WE EAT ?— ELEMENTS FURNISHED BY FOOD. 

Did it ever occur to you, dear reader, that our daily food has much 
to do with our success and our failures in life ? Its intelligent selection 
to adapt it to age, constitution, occupation and season, is worthy of 
more thought than it generally receives. The growth of children is 
affected by it; the health of the mother depends upon it; the amount 
of work done by the laborer is governed by the quality of his diet ; the 
sermon, the newspaper, the book and all products of brain- work are 
biased by the kind and quality of food furnished the author; the habits 
of body, mental, moral and physical, are also greatly influenced by diet. 
The drunkard not infrequently owes his downfall to the quality of the 
food which his mother or wife sets before him; and so we might go on 
to the end of the chapter, enumerating all the pursuits or the vices of 
mankind; for the food supplies the materials from which the flesh, the 
bone, the nerve, the brain and the blood are made. Their perfection 
and harmony of action, or the lack of it, determine what place a man 
shall occupy among his fellow-men; therefore, upon women, who, for 
the most part, are the cooks of the world, rests the grave responsibility 
of supplying such nourishment as shall make their husbands and 
children healthy, vigorous, temperate, or the reverse. " The way to 
a man's heart is through his stomach," is a common saying, and a 
tolerably true one. The study of food in its relation to bodily and 
mental vigor is one well worth attention; it should be begun in the 
school-room, in place of some of the studies of questionable value now 
forced upon pupils by teachers who lack the practical experience in the 
affairs of life which alone can make them judicious advisers. It is not 
well to be continually questioning whether each article placed before 
us is healthy or otherwise; we are made for a higher purpose than to 
occupy ourselves exclusively with considering "What shall we eat? 
or, What shall we drink ? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed ? " 

A Practical Knowledge of Housekeeping, a Wo- 
man's Most Important Accomplishment. — The successful 

man studies every detail of his business, so that he is capable not 



114 EVERY WOMAN OUGHT TO UNDERSTAND HOUSEKEEPING. 

only of directing those in his employ, but of knowing whether 
their work is well done. The farmer knows that if he would 
prosper he must make his own plans and see them carried out ; 
that the watchful eye of the master, and often his strong arm, 
i6 needed to keep his farm in good order, and to manage it profit- 
ably. Women should bring to the art of cooking an equal zeal; there 
is no department of house-wifery so badly managed as the kitchen. 
Some women waste their strength in their devotion to the stomachs of 
their family, spending hours in concocting too many rich and palatable 
delicacies, which ought to be devoted to other purposes. Some believe 
sewing, cleaning, decorating, are of more importance than cooking. 
Others, from feeble health, a few from laziness, trust everything to the 
hired girl, who, in the majority of cases, is as unfitted as her mistress 
to make suitable selection of diet for the family table. Every woman, 
be she rich or be she poor, neglects the duties of a housewife, when 
she does not prepare herself to manage her business better than a ser- 
vant, who can not be expected to take a special interest in it, who has 
had no training to fit her for her work, or who is a stranger to 
American ways. A wife that has had no opportunity to learn domestic 
economy before her marriage, if she be of the right sort, will make it 
her first aim, on entering a home of her own, to fit herself for her new 
duties. A wise mother will see that her daughter is thus trained long 
before this period arrives; a few have frivolous, foolish mothers, and 
are likely to be both frivolous and foolish themselves. Unfortunate is 
the man who selects such an one to preside over his home ! All women 
ought to know that, as a rule, the sisters of the envied class, that has 
never known poverty, are careful housewives, and look closely after their 
kitchens, unless they are fortunate enough to have a trusty housekeeper 
to relieve them. They allow no reckless expenditure, no waste, nor do 
they leave the selection of the food for their meals to the servants. The 
newly rich, or shoddy class, are not by any means such good mana- 
gers. 

Occasionally sickness prevents a mother from carrying out her 
plans for her daughter; death often removes the mother before her 
child is old enough to be taught what no one else has the patience to 
teach her; whatever be the cause, the wife who finds herself in charge 
of a home, and responsible for its management, is sadly handicapped 
when she has no practical knowledge to guide her. Fortunately such 
knowledge is easily acquired when one wants it; there are, in every 



THE KELATION OF TASTE TO A HEALTHFUL DIET. 115 

community, excellent housekeepers, who will cheerfully aid a novice in 
learning; there are instructive cook books and manuals of household 
science for those who wish to master the art, so that there is really no 
excuse for a woman's failure to be at the head of her domestic affairs. 
One of the most admirable of housekeepers we have known is a lady 
who, for the greater part of her married life, has been confined to her 
bed. She has always been dependent upon young, inexperienced and 
unreliable girls; yet so methodical are her arrangements that not only 
is her home a model of neatness and cosiness, from cellar to garret, her 
meals regular, her food nicely cooked and served, but the expenses are 
less than in many a home where the wife is able to do all her own 
work. This lady was a musician in her youth, and expected to devote 
her life to her profession, therefore had never paid the least attention 
to domestic affairs. Ill health destroyed all her prospects in a musical 
way; yet, resolved that her life should not be a failure, she made the 
most of her opportunities with the result just described. Undoubtedly 
the cross that has borne so heavily upon her has contributed not a 
little to the welfare and happiness of her family; and who will say that, 
after all, this is not a nobler calling than one which wins the plaudits 
of the public. 

The taste is the porter which guards the door of the mouth; 
were it not for that, unwholesome food would be readily eaten. It is 
a remarkable fact that what is unfit for food has nearly always an un- 
pleasant taste. Watch a cat eat; give her something before unknown 
to her, and see how daintily she touches her tongue to it ; if it be the 
least suspicious she turns away, and no coaxing can persuade her to eat 
it. Taste not only warns against unsuitable food, but affords pleasure. 
God had not confidence enough in man's reason to trust to it alone for 
supplying the wants of human nature, so he placed a plaything in the 
shape of pleasure after every necessity, and in supplying a want, man 
finds his reward. If, on the other hand, he seek only pleasure, regard- 
less of the purpose for which it was given, and its limitations, he is 
punished by being deprived of the pleasure he has abused. 

Following the plan of nature, food, then, should be palatable, 
pleasing both to the eye, the smell, and the taste. 

There is a Right Way and a Wrong Way to Cook 
Everything that Ever is Cooked.— Bread that is heavy 

or sour is unfit for the human stomach ; rancid butter, sodden 
potatoes, tainted or diseased meat, are all unhealthy. Any of 



116 



PROPERLY COOKED FOOD IS IN ITS MOST DIGESTIBLE FORM. 



these may produce bowel disease or fever, days after they are eaten. 
Many forms of disease, whose origin is a mystery to the sufferers, 
start from eating some unsuitable article of food. Milk and meat, 
when decomposition is just beginning, contain a poisonous sub- 
stance called a " ptomaine," which makes those who eat of them 
sick, and not unfrequently causes death. It is this which usually pro- 
duces the wholesale poisoning from eating ice cream, chicken pie, 
oysters, etc., of which we sometimes read. Measly pork gives those who 
eat it tape- worm, and trichina in man also comes from pork containing 
that parasite. It is sometimes coiled up in a little sac, which may be 
seen in the meat as a tiny white speck; when these are abundant it 
crackles as it is cut. The trichina may be present, not inclosed in its 
sac, and then is invisible to the naked eye. It produces in man symp- 
toms of several different diseases; the ones more frequently observed 
resemble typhoid fever and muscular rheumatism. Long exposure to 
great heat is the only way to make such articles harmless. The ordi- 
nary method of frying meat, which quickly browns the surface while it 
scarcely more than warms through the inner layer, is no safeguard 
against the germs which do us the most harm. The subject of cookery 
is one which should interest us, not only for the sake of pleasing the 
palate, but because in many ways it has to do with our very existence. 
Prepared right, and neatly served, food is in its most digestible form: 
potatoes, for example, come to the table dry and mealy, not waxen or 
water soaked; meat is tender, juicy and finely flavored; bread is light 
and sweet; the process of cookery has begun certain changes which aid 
the mouth, stomach, and entire digestive apparatus in extracting those 
elements which renew the brain, the blood and the nerves. 

Importance of a Well-selected Diet.— The subject of food 

has been most thoroughly studied, and the facts given in this volume 
are based on such study. The supplies for armies, for prisons, for state 
charitable institutions, are required to be abundant, yet of the cheapest 
material that will serve the purpose. The most careful experiments 
have been made to determine the quantity per head actually needed to 
keep the health and strength natural ; the quality best adapted to prison 
life, to men on the march, as well as in camp ; to the invalids in hospitals, 
and the paupers in the poor-house. While private families can afford 
more generous supplies, yet, take the world over, it is very doubtful if 
the masses of mankind and womankind are as well fed as the inmates 
of penitentiaries. Not that they do not have a greater variety, more 



KEASONS FOR BELIEVING A MIXED DIET BEST FOB MAN. 117 

attractively prepared, but that the study that has been brought to bear 
upon prison diet has resulted in a selection which furnishes all the 
elements of nutrition in a more digestible form. 

Man was Designed to Live on a Mixed Diet.— An ex- 
amination of the teeth of man shows that his Creator designed him to 
live upon a mixed diet. Those animals which live upon flesh alone have 
tusks to hold their prey, and sharp cutting teeth to chop it up; man has 
the canine teeth corresponding to the tusks, and the cutting teeth in front. 
Animals which live exclusively upon vegetables, grass, etc., have strong 
rounded teeth for grinding their food; man has these in the molars, set 
in the back part of the jaws, where most force can be brought to bear 
upon them. Animals which eat flesh move the lower jaw up and down, 
as if hinged; those which grind their food move it partially around to 
draw the molars across each other, which produces the grinding effect; 
man moves his jaws in both these ways. Again, animals which feed 
exclusively on flesh have a short intestinal canal; raw flesh needs very 
little digestion — little more, in fact, than dissolving. Vegetable-eaters 
have very long intestinal canals, because such food must undergo many 
changes before it is fit to be added to the blood. The intestinal canal 
in man is very long, while it differs from the strictly vegetable-eaters in 
being better adapted for digesting flesh. For these reasons it seems 
certain that a mixed diet for man was the plan of the Creator. Owing 
also to the peculiarities of his digestive organs, man is enabled to live 
exclusively upon either animal or vegetable substances, when necessity 
demands. This fits him to live in all regions; to change from one part 
of the globe to another. It makes it possible for the Esquimaux to 
live upon train oil, with a small quantity of the moss which grows 
scantily in the frigid regions ; it enables the inhabitant of the torrid 
region to live on cocoanuts, bananas, or rice, with a little fish occasion- 
ally; it enables man everywhere to engage in pursuits that would be 
forbidden to him if his diet must invariably consist of either vegetable 
or animal food. 

The three kinds of food which everyone needs maybe called flesh- 
formers, bone-makers and body -warmers. Milk contains everything 
required by the body. Some people suppose that milk is not a food, 
and it is not uncommon to find the friends of a patient confined to a 
milk diet very anxious lest starvation result. Occasionally we hear of 
a case who is said to eat nothing whatever ; when inquiry shows 
that the supply of milk taken daily affords abundant nourishment. 



118 FAMILIAR EXPERIMENTS WITH SOME COMMON GASES. 

Examine, if you please, the following table, and you will readily see 
that there is no danger of starving under such circumstances. A pint 
of new milk contains the following : 

COW'S MILK. MOTHER'S MILK. 

Water 13 oz 14 oz. 

Flesh-formers f oz less. 

Body-warmers . . . . 1^ oz more. 

Bone-makers ^ oz same. 

It is evident, then, that milk furnishes material for every part of the 
body, therefore is the most perfect food — but not for every one. It is 
necessary for the teeth, the stomach, the glands, all to work; when the 
teeth are always employed on soft food, that needs no chewing, they 
decay from lack of exercise; when the stomach has food given it that is 
almost digested, it grows lazy; when the glands are not whipped up by 
the necessity of furnishing their secretions, they cease work. In child- 
hood the digestive organs are not fully developed ; in old age they be- 
come defective from wearing out ; therefore, in the extremes of life, a 
large proportion of milk with the meals is very desirable. 

Gases Which Form a Part Of Food.— There are three gases 
which play a very important part in the universe. The air surrounds 
the globe like a mighty ocean. We can not see it, smell, or taste it; yet 
we hear the noise caused by it in motion, and know that the wind is a 
mighty power. This air, invisible as it is, consists of two gases — 
oxygen, the life-giving, life-sustaining element, and nitrogen, whose 
main purpose in the air seems to be to dilute it, as water is used to 
dilute wine or alcohol. A familiar experiment in the school -room i3 the 
burning of a candle in a jar of oxygen gas, turned upside down, because 
the gas is lighter than air; the flame grows large and bright, but quickly 
burns out. Accompanying this experiment is another, showing the effect 
of carbonic acid gas. The air in the jar is drawn into and breathed out 
of the experimenter's lungs several times; the jar stands right side up, 
to show that this gas is heavier than air; the candle cautiously lowered 
into it goes out, showing that oxygen has been removed from the jar, 
and that the gas that remains will not supply material for making a 
flame. Another experiment, equally familiar, is the separation of water 
into the gases composing it. There is something remarkably curious 
about the way the various elements are united in nature. Water is a 
very harmless as well as necessary fluid ; the gases forming it are noth- 



THK MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF FOOD. 119 

ing but oxygen and hydrogen, both invisible, neither making any im- 
pression upon our senses when encountered singly; yet, bring them 
together, touch a match to them, and you will have a tremendous explo- 
sion, during which they unite to form water again. Water will not 
burn, yet the gases composing it will each make a flame. These same 
two gases are employed to produce the calcium light, which is more 
brilliant than any other known, with the exception of the electric light. 
It will burn all metals, except platinum, as if they were shavings. The 
coal that miners bring from the mine is composed of carbon; the spark- 
ling diamond is nothing but pure carbon. 

Important Food Elements. — Let us examine the blood once 
more. When drawn from the body it quickly separates into two parts, 
one a yellowish transparent liquid, the other an opaque red mass floating 
on top, called the clot or coagulum. Wash the clot thoroughly, there 
remains a mass of fibrine, the material used up in the body to make the 
fibers of the muscles; it is the true flesh -former. Now let us see what 
there is to be found in it. The following table gives the analysis of 
100 ounces of fibrine: 

Carbon, 63 ozs. Oxygen, 13 ozs. 

Hydrogen, 7 ozs. Nitrogen, 17 ozs. 

Now we will examine some kinds of food which contain these ele- 
ments similarly united. Take a handful of flour, hold it under a stream 
of water, kneading it lightly with the fingers at the same time. Col- 
lect the water in a bowl as it flows away. The mass in the hand is a 
whitish elastic substance that is very sticky and makes excellent paste; 
it is called gluten. There will settle in the bottom of the bowl a fine 
white powder, which is starch, the same a washer- woman uses for starch- 
ing linen. Let us examine 100 ounces of gluten; we will find it con- 
tains the following: 

Carbon, 63 ozs. Oxygen, 13 ozs. 

Hydrogen, 7 ozs. Nitrogen, 17 ozs. 

Animal food ought to contain the flesh-formers in the same propor- 
tions to make it equally valuable. Let us see what we can find in milk 
to correspond with it. Milk contains no fibrine nor gluten. When 
rennet is added to milk it separates into two parts, making whey and 



120 ALBUMEN IN THE UBINE WHAT IT SIGNIFIES. 

curd. The curd is called casein (cheese), and 100 ounces of it con- 
tain: 

Carbon, 63 ozs. Oxygen, 13 ozs. 

Hydrogen, 7 ozs. Nitrogen, 17 ozs. 

We have these two animal substances, fibrine and casein, and one 
vegetable, gluten, which are equally good flesh-formers. When these 
substances are dried it would puzzle an expert to tell which is from 
blood, or milk, and which from flour. Many vegetables contain an 
identical substance. It is said that the Chinese make delicious cheese 
from pease, that taste exactly like those made from milk The follow- 
ing table will show some of the more important flesh-formers : 

ANIMAL. VEGETABLES. 

Beef. Pork Flour. Rice. 

Fish. Game. Indian Meal. Pease. 

Poultry. Eggs. Oat Meal. Barley. 

Cheese. Bye. Buckwheat. 

There are rather more long names connected with this subject 
than the non- scientific reader may like, but we will mention them as 
we go on for convenience of knowing to what they refer. All foods 
that make flesh contain nitrogen, therefore they are called nitrogenous. 
There is a substance with which we are all familiar, that plays an im- 
portant part in keeping us alive, and that is albumen. The white of 
egg is pure albumen; the albumen from vegetables is called gluten; 
that from flesh, fibrine; just as the Smith family, to distinguish its 
members, calls one Sarah Jane, another George Washington, and so on; 
they are all Smiths at the same time, so the flesh-formers are all albumen. 
In Bright' s Disease, physicians examine the urine for albumen. The 
reason is, that this substance ought to be used up in the body, and 
that which passes off should first undergo a change of form ; therefore,, 
when pure albumen in any quantity is found passing off, it means that 
flesh forming is not going on healthfully; the body can not stand such 
waste long, therefore if it be found to be constantly lost it is looked 
upon as a sign that the patient is in a dangerous condition. Albumen 
is occasionally found in the urine, temporarily, during a fever, the heal- 
ing of a severe wound, or sick headache, and under these circumstances 
it need excite no alarm. Fibrine is the material which heals wounds 
of all kinds. When a healthy person is cut with a sharp knife, the 
best way to treat the wound is to bring the raw surfaces together and 



CAKBONACEOUS FOOD SUPPLIES FOKCE. 121 

bind them up, "in the blood;" the fibrine does the rest when left to 
itself. There is no ointment, salve or application whatsoever which 
can knit together the lips of a wound and heal it. People believe dif- 
ferently, but they are simply mistaken. The blood furnishes the 
material, the nutrient vessels carry the fibrine to the place where it is 
to be used, and the work is quickly done. Persons who have impure 
blood, wounds made with dirty tools, or dressed in unclean bandages 
require different treatment. It is in these cases that the medicines 
referred to are needed; the work they do is either to destroy bacteria, 
or poisonous fluids in the wound, to protect the raw surface from injury, 
to keep it from getting dry or irritated, and to prevent the growth of 
" proud flesh." If there were no fibrine, a cut would never stop bleed- 
ing ; when the blood contains too little of it, a person will bleed 
dangerously from a slight wound; even a mere scratch has been known 
to prove fatal. 

The source of heat and power, or force, is the same in the body as for 
the engine — it is carbon. Starch is an excellent combustible. Every 
100 ounces contain: 

Carbon 45 ozs. 

Hydrogen 6 ozs. 

Oxygen 49 ozs. 

It will be seen that starch is nearly one-half carbon ; it is also well sup- 
plied with oxygen, to burn it under the right conditions. Carbon 
burned in the body produces heat, and leaves behind carbonic acid gas, 
the same that is thrown off by the lungs. Take away from starch a 
portion of its carbon, so that there remains only 36 ounces of it in each 
100 ounces, it is turned into sugar. In Europe there are great facto- 
ries where bags of starch are converted into syrup, so that people may 
sweeten their coffee at breakfast with what might have been made into 
rolls had it not been taken to the factory. A pocket handkerchief is 
composed of the same materials as starch, and in the same proportion; 
so that if a chemist should take a fancy, he can transform it into syrup 
or sugar on short notice. All articles which contain carbon are called 
carbonaceous. 

The principal body-warmers, or carbonaceous foods, are these: 

ANIMAL. VEGETABLE. 

Butter. Cream. Starch. Cotton Seed Oil. 

Lard. Cod Liver Oil. Sugar. Bread. 

Suet. Dripping. Molasses. Beans. 

Fat Meat. Olive Oil. Pease, etc. 



122 NECESSITY OF PHOSPHORUS, AND THE WORK IT DOES. 

The flesh-formers and body- warmers are combined in the same 
article, as we have seen in the case of flour, which is composed princi- 
pally of gluten and starch. Bone-makers also are found in union with 
them. As previously stated, the larger proportion of the bulk of all 
bones is gelatine, or glue. 

Lime united with phosphoric acid gives them solidity; but this is 
increased by lime united with carbonic acid, making carbonate of lime. 
Other minerals that are found in blood or bone are iron, sulphur, soda, 
potash, silica, manganese, etc., etc. It is sometimes said that the body 
is the "epitome of the universe," because it contains a specimen 
of every element composing the earth, the objects upon its surface, and 
the air surrounding it. The most wonderful of all is phosphorus. In 
the form in which we see it at the druggists it is a soft, waxy-looking 
substance, which shines in the dark, takes fire in the open air, and can 
be preserved only by keeping it covered with water. It is so poisonous 
that those long engaged in making lucifer matches suffer from a very 
destructive ulceration of the bones in the nose and mouth, although 
there is a very small proportion of phosphorus used in this work. 

Little children are often poisoned by putting matches in their 
mouths. This remarkable substance exists in another form entirely dis- 
tinct from the active state. "In the one case it is like a soldier with 
his loaded musket pressed to his shoulder and his finger on the trigger, 
almost anticipating the command to fire; in the other it is like the same 
soldier with his unloaded weapon at his side standing at ease." Within 
the body phosphorus has the power of uniting in different proportions 
with various salts — for example: A child is beginning to walk, and the 
bones of the legs need to be strengthened ; phosphorus takes three units 
of lime to them making them solid ; but the bones of the skull must re- 
main soft and yielding, for it has many a fall, and the more elastic the 
bones are the less it will suffer when its head strikes a hard object. Less 
lime is needed there, and phosphorus regulates the amount. The teeth 
need to be harder than the hardest bone, to form cutting edges and 
grinding surfaces ; therefore, phosphorus carries to them a very large 
proportion of lime, and packs it hard and firm. Phosphorus keeps the 
blood alkaline or salty, the flesh acid, and acts the part of "universal 
regulator." We receive our supplies of phosphorus from bread, oat- 
meal and meat, particularly fish. It is no use to depend upon any arti- 
ficial preparation; it will not answer the same purpose — the digestive 
organs must extract it from our food in their own way. 



SOUECE FROM WHICH VAEIOUS SALTS ARE OBTAINED. 123' 

Water supplies a large part of our minerals ; this comes from rivers 
and springs that run through the earth, dissolving the substances in 
the soil, just as sugar is dissolved by water. The clearest drinking 
water contains iron, and many other ingredients that we little suspect 
of being in it. Common salt is broken up in the body, and uniting with 
other elements forms soda, which is needed for bile, and hydrochloric 
acid, a most important part of the gastric juice. It has been noticed 
that in cases suffering from cancer of the stomach this acid is not found. 
What relation this bears to the disease is unknown, as cancer in this 
locality is always preceded by severe dyspepsia, and some physicians 
recommend hydrochloric acid for all cases where the gastric juice con- 
tains no acid. It must be given in very small doses, and continued for 
several weeks to do any good. Phosphate of lime is found in wheat, 
corn and all grains. Bone meal, made by grinding bones, is sometimes 
spread, as a fertilizer, over ground designed for wheat. The heat 
of the sun, with the moisture of the air, separates the phosphate of lime 
from the gelatine of the bone; it sinks into the earth, and is taken up 
by the wheat in growing; we eat it, and it is used to keep our bones in 
repair. Vegetables and fruit contain a large amount of potash. Pota- 
toes, cabbages, turnips, apples, oranges, etc., supply us plentifully, pro- 
vided we eat them in a form that preserves it. The water in which 
vegetables and meat is cooked dissolves out some of the elements we 
need; such water is a useful addition to soups. Bad cooking deprives 
vegetables of much of their value ; the water in which a pound of peeled 
potatoes is boiled contains 17 grains of carbonate of potash; water 
in which cabbage is boiled, 21 grains sulphate of potash. Potatoes 
ought to be cooked before peeling. Potash is a wonderful remedy to 
keep off scurvy; but the potash from the druggist will not do it. Na- 
ture concocts her remedies with a cunning hand, which man can not imi- 
tate. Formerly, long sea voyages were dangerous, owing to the scurvy 
caused by eating nothing but salted provisions. It is said that a cap- 
tain once sent men to a barren looking island to seek for some vegetable 
to relieve his crew, who were all suffering from scurvy. They found 
nothing but purslane growing there, but they gathered a large quantity, 
of which all ate freely, the cook making a kind of soup out of it for a 
variety. The sick men all recovered. On returning to port the cir- 
cumstance was reported, and some chemists analyzed the plant to dis- 
cover what it contained; they found nearly the same elements as are in 
lemon juice: therefore, this has always been provided since for long voy- 
ages, and the dreaded scurvy is rarely heard of in these days. 



124 DETERIORATION OF STRENGTH FROM DIET WHICH LACKS VARIETY. 

Economy in Diet. — Economy is here used in a two-fold sense: it 
means not only that food may be selected to perfectly nourish the body 
at a fraction of the expense incurred in ministering to the taste exclu- 
sively, but that by intelligent selection the work of digesting and 
assimilating it may be decidedly lessened. A variety of food offers the 
most economical diet, while it is, at the same time, most gratifying to the 
senses. Many experiments have been tried upon both animals and man, 
to learn the effect of living on only one kind of food. An American 
physician, who has tried many experiments of this kind on his own per- 
son, lived for some time on a diet of starch alone; and this is the report 
of his condition on the 8th day: Violent headache all day; mind some- 
what confused ; an almost constant twitching of the left upper eye-lid 
was felt, which caused great annoyance. There was a sense of oppres- 
sion or weight in the chest, which was relieved by frequent, full and 
deep inspirations ; there was also palpitation of the heart, and vomiting of 
sour fluid. Several boils made their appearance, scratches on the hand 
would not heal, and the lips were of a bluish tinge. Women, who eat 
little besides bread or toast and tea suffer from similar symptoms; they 
are, in fact, living upon a diet composed mostly of starch. Working 
women who earn small wages are compelled to economize strictly, 
therefore they often eat little besides this; the stimulating tea masks, 
for a time, the bad effect that is certain to follow a prolonged diet of 
this kind. 

" In ancient times, when Ulysses, who had with others set out to 
seek the Golden Fleece, had been absent ten years, with no message 
from him in all that time, his friends gave him up for dead, and his 
wife, Penelope, was beset with suitors for her hand. To quiet them, 
she promised to marry as soon as she finished a piece of cloth she was 
weaving all the day long. Believing that Ulysses still lived, she raveled 
out every night all that she had done during the day, thus postponing 
her marriage until rewarded by the return of Ulysses himself. " The 
body is a kind of Penelope's web, with this difference : here the web is 
being unraveled at one end at the same time that it is being woven at the 
other. It differs in another important respect — the same material can 
not be used a second time. If the web be ever so substantial at first, 
yet, as it is unraveled, thread of inferior fiber be furnished, there will 
come a time when all the firm threads have been unraveled, and the 
whole fabric will be of inferior quality. Women who have all the 
work of the family to do are liable to have no appetite for breakfast, 



RELATION OF LABOR DONE, TO DIET OF LABORER. 125 

and drift into the habit of taking only bread and butter, with a cup of 
tea or coffee. They are too exhausted to digest well, and this diet sat- 
isfies them for a little while; but they soon feel faint and weak, and 
again resort to the teapot. There are some who keep it always hot, 
and are veritable tea-topers. It is a most destructive habit. There is 
no more certain way to invite the approach of consumption. This dis- 
ease is always lying in wait for exhausted constitutions. A woman 
who can not eat after cooking a meal should, on first arising in the 
morning, drink a glass of milk or beef broth. This will give her 
more strength to work. When her stomach will not bear milk or strong 
broth, then is her condition serious indeed — a break down is not far 
■off. A little pepsin will sometimes be all that is needed to make the 
food set well. This may be bought of the druggist; a substitute for it 
may be made at home (see recipe in Appendix). When poverty is re- 
sponsible for a meager diet, it may be improved by selecting other arti- 
cles that cost no more than tea and bread, but which are far better " to 
work on." Milk or soups for the liquid part, and vegetables with bread, 
can be had almost as cheap as tea and bread alone, while the increased 
strength from the more nutritious diet will enable the worker to earn 
more money. 

Many years ago, in a certain locality in Europe, the times were so 
hard that the high price of vegetables prevented their use among the 
very poor. Scurvy broke out among them, and one man, having broken 
his leg, was taken to a hospital. He was given all the bread and meat 
he wanted, but the bones would not grow together. After some time 
he was given all the vegetables he could eat, and the bones began to 
knit directly. There is no doubt that too few vegetables in the diet 
undermine the health and increase the risk of sickness. Repeated and 
unvarying experience show that well-fed laborers, working under the 
stimulus of high wages, do better and cheaper work than those whose 
wages are low, and whose living is scanty. 

It is said that bricklayers in country places in England, who only 
receive 12 shillings per week for their work, and must live correspond- 
ingly poor, can lay only from 300 to 400 bricks a day. In towns where 
the wages are double, more than a 1,000 a day are easily laid. The 
human body is a machine capable of generating a certain amount of 
force, which has its limits. If this be used up in preparing the contents 
of the stomach to renew wastes, there is less to expend in other ways. 
When a man uses his force in hard manual labor, he has less to expend 



126 THE VALUE OF A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF FOODS. 

in the act of digestion; yet, at the same time, he needs plenty of force- 
producing elements to enable him to work to the best advantage. The 
food of the laboring man is too often an indigestible mass of pastry, 
poor bread and cheese; such a lunch is digested with difficulty; to 
make up this loss of force he is too apt to resort to a stimulant, which 
is the very worst thing for himself that he can possibly do, for if 
he drive his overtasked powers to the utmost, he may accomplish more 
that day, but the reaction that follows stimulation makes him less fit to 
labor the next day. The work of the stomach is interfered with by 
alcoholic drinks taken during digestion; in consequence, there is an 
irritated alimentary canal and brain, so that the next morning he arises 
as tired as when he went to bed. It follows soon that he can not eat 
his breakfast until he has had a stimulant ; when a man arrives at this 
state he is in grave peril, and he must make a strong effort to free 
himself from this craving, or he will soon reach the condition in which 
his desire for liquor will be uncontrollable. 

How shall this be prevented ? The first necessity is to provide the 
laborer with a hearty but easily digested lunch. Most employers 
would find that it would save them more than the cost, in the increased 
amount of work done, were they to provide their laborers with a plain, 
substantial dinner. The workman's basket is frequently set in a dirty, 
unwholesome place for hours, absorbing unhealthy gases which make 
its contents unfit to eat. The lunch provided for school children is, as 
a rule, very poorly adapted to making good blood, without which the 
active brain and muscles of the growing youth can not be kept in good 
order. A bottle of sweet milk, good bread and butter, with or without 
a slice of meat, or a boiled egg or two, and fresh fruit, is a suitable 
diet for all healthy children; pie, and cake, and candies will disorder 
the stomach, and make them peevish and fretful; such a lunch is 
not easily digested, and does not contain necessary food elements in 
the right proportion to make a healthful diet. 

Suitable Food Favors Sobriety.— The study of foods, their 

relative and special value, is not more difficult than arithmetic, which 
every girl is expected to learn; it is only that the subject is considered of 
little importance, and therefore uninteresting, that it is also neglected. 
When one gives it deliberate thought, it seems incredible that our 
intelligent women are so largely disposed to leave the selection of food 
to the ignorant managers of their kitchens, while they expend free]y 



DIFFICULTIES IN SELECTING SUITABLE DIET. 



127 



their means, their time and their strength to ameliorate the conditions 
of society which grow out of defective nourishment. 

Diet Table. — The table given below shows the proportion of 
the different elements in some ordinary articles of diet : 



HOUBS TO 












DIGEST. 


QUANTITY, 1 LB. 


FLE SH-FORMERS . 


BODY- WARMERS . 


WATER. 


MINERALS. 


m 


Bread - - - 


About 2 oz. 


About 10 oz. 


About 4 oz. 


About ^ oz. 


4 


Meat - - - 


« 3 " 


« 3 « 


" 10 " 


" i " 


3K 


Cheese - - - 


" 5y 2 " 


" 4M " 


" H" 


" h " 


2 


Milk 


" X A " 


1 " 


" 184" 


u ^ a. 


3 


Eggs - - - 


" %% » 


" IK " 


" 12 " 






Butter 1 














Suet 














Lard 
Oils 


• 


None. 


" 14 " 


" 2 " 






Sugar 














Arrow-root 












DRY FOOl 


)S. 


Wheat, 

Oats, 

Pease 


1 
I Each pound 


contains « 


Flesh-formers, about 2% ozs. 
Body-warmers, " 12 " 
Water, " 1% " 
Minerals, " jf " 


Rice, 
Macaroni, 




WET I 


POODS. 


Potatoes, 


Apples, - 


' 


Turnips, 


Oranges, 




Flesh-formers, about 1 oz. 


Carrots, 


Gooseberries, 


Each pound 


Body- warmers, " 2 " 


Onions, 


Currants, 


contains 


Water, " 12 " 


Lettuce, 


Lemons, 




Minerals, i^" 


Rhubarb, 


Pumpkins, 










_ 







The question of diet could be easily disposed of, if it were only 
necessary to know what amount of each element is contained in a human 
body of a given size, and it were possible to keep up the strength and 
activity by selecting as food those articles which furnish exactly the 
same quantity of material that is worn out in the intervals between 
meals. A child needs a greater quantity in proportion to its weight as 
compared with a grown person, to enable his bones, his muscles, and all 
his organs to attain their full size. They can grow only as supplied 
with material from without. This is true of every object belonging to 
the animal or vegetable kingdoms. The potato in the field drinks water 
and eats mineral and vegetable matter from the earth and air around it. 
Plant it in pure sand, moisten it, keep it at growing heat, it will sprout 
and grow till all the nourishment stored in the seed is used up; then, if 



128 THE EAT IS THE SAVINGS BANK OF THE BLOOD. 

no fertilizer or soil be given it, growth ceases and it soon starves to 
death. A boy who is fed poorly is stunted in growth. Food may be 
supplied plentifully, yet, owing to some defect in the digestive appara- 
tus, it may fail to meet the wants of the body. The unfinished house 
stands just as the carpenter or mason leaves it, until it crumbles into 
dust; it has no power to grow to completion. Bricks, mortar and lumber 
may be provided, but without skillful hands to put them together the 
work cannot go on. The food, when the digestive organs have finished 
their task, is but brick, mortar and lumber of the tissues ; the absorbent 
and nutrient vessels are the busy mechanics which tear down, build up, 
and clean out the house in which we live. These vessels can not be seen 
at work after death; they are hidden from the most inquisitive student 
during life; therefore it is impossible to find out what the difference 
in them is, which causes one person to grow fat and another to remain 
lean, who daily partake of the same viands at a common table. For 
this reason it is impossible to select a diet that will be equally suitable 
for every one. Only very general rules, to which there are numerous ex- 
ceptions, can be given. As near as can be estimated, a healthy man, of 
medium size, working in the open air, needs 2h pounds of solid food and 
about 3 pints of liquid every day. Of this amount, 10 ounces must 
be material which furnishes heat and force (body -warmers), and 5 
ounces must be flesh -formers; the balance of the solid food consists of 
salts, water and waste portions, which distend the intestinal canal. It 
is said that only about 7 ounces of the body-warmer, or carbonaceous 
food, will be actually burned up in twenty- four hours. The harder a 
man works, the warmer he grows and the faster he uses up carbon, but 
there must be a surplus to lie between his muscles and to cover his 
bones. This surplus is laid up as fat. The savings bank of the blood, 
where it deposits its treasures until they are needed, is fat. Liebig 
states that a pig swallowed up by a land slip was found alive at the end 
of 160 days, but was almost a skeleton; it had lived on its fat all that 
time. It is said that the humps on dromedaries' backs are solid masses 
of fat, which enable the animal to go a long time without food; before 
they starve to death the hump is entirely gone. It is the same with 
man during sickness, when he eats little or nothing, the fat stored in his 
body keeps him alive; but as it is used up, he grows thin and wrinkled, 
and when his weight is reduced beyond a certain point he dies. You 
can set down the statements made in the newspapers about people who 
have lived from several months to years without eating as false in every 



POPULAR RUMOR CONCERNING REMARKABLE CASES OF DISEASE. 129 

instance. A person in a trance, who does nothing but feebly breathe, 
needs very little nourishment, but the heart keeps on beating, the lungs 
move, and these slight movements wear out organs and use up blood. 
A patient in this condition will live until the fat is all used up, but then 
fresh supplies must be taken into the body or death will surely follow. 
The length of time persons may live without eating is not always the 
same ; life has been prolonged from sixty to ninety days under some 
circumstances, and, again, it has ceased at the end of ten days or less. 
So much depends upon the conditions and surroundings that no rule 
can be given. The fact that, under unusual circumstances, it may be 
prolonged for several weeks, should encourage those seeking to rescue 
persons cut off from provisions by mine disasters and ocean accidents 
to persevere in their efforts so long as the least hope remains that 
the victims are alive. The rapidity with which the natural powers be- 
come exhausted in feeble persons should make nurses and friends 
watchful when caring for children, the aged or the insane, that they 
are not allowed to go too long without nourishment. As an example 
of how little dependence is to be placed upon a newspaper report of ex- 
traordinary cases, we cite an incident that recently occurred in this 
city. At the newspaper offices was received an account of the death of 
a young lady from a peculiar cause. She was very sick at her stomach, 
and, while vomiting violently, threw up a full-grown shrimp. She then 
remembered that, last winter, at one time while the water-pipes were 
frozen, her people brought water from a hydrant in the vicinity, and, 
taking a drink in the dark one night, she felt something slip down her 
throat. It was added that her physician examined the remarkable 
object, and gave it as his opinion that the creature had grown to its 
present size in her stomach, and had produced the illness from which 
she died One editor took the trouble to send a reporter to interview 
the doctor referred to. When shown the account he was amazed. He 
stated that the girl's friends had brought him something which, to their 
excited fancy, appeared to be a shrimp. He found, on looking closely 
at it, that it was a partially digested slice of orange, which, coated with 
mucus or phlegm, might easily be mistaken for a crustacean. This 
editor printed the result of the interview; the rest, the alleged cir- 
cumstance. As fiction travels with lightning speed, while old fogy 
truth jogs about in a stage coach, we may expect to hear for many a 
year to come of the Chicago girl who perished from drinking hydrant 
water in the dark. 



130 



INJURIOUS EFFECT OF HIGHLY SEASONED FOOD. 



Food Elements Needed by a "Working-man. — To 

return to our subject, let us see what variety of food will supply 
in the best form the materials needed by the active working-man. 
He will need four pounds of white bread a day, if he eat nothing 
else, to furnish enough flesh-former; should he eat lean meat only, 
he must take six pounds a day to get sufficient body-warmer. On a 
bread diet alone he gets far too much carbon, or body- warmer; on meat 
alone he has too large a proportion of nitrogen, or flesh-former. Should 
he eat both meat and bread, he will need two pounds of bread for his 
supply of carbon, and twelve ounces of meat for his nitrogen. If he 
will take butter, or salad-oil, he will require less bread; by selecting 
vegetables and fruits, he may secure the same amount of carbon and 
nitrogen in a more attractive form than a bread and meat diet alone 
afford. Sometimes the mineral elements are wanting, again there is a 
lack of acids; it may be phosphorus, iron, or any one of the long list of 
elements whose value we do not know ; this deficiency is shown by a 
craving desire for something, one scarcely knows what. The stimulus 
of liquor removes the craving for the time, and this leads many of the 
under- fed, the poorly- fed, and the over- fed, alike, to resort to intoxicat- 
ing drinks. This is an urgent reason why women who are anxious that 
their husbands, brothers and sons shall be temperate ought to be able 
to select food intelligently, that shall supply the special wants of the 
various members of the family according to age, strength, habits, con- 
stitution, and employment, that they may not be beset by cravings that 
increase the temptation to indulge in stimulants. Pepper, mustard, 
spices, piquant sauces, frequently excite an inflammation of the stomach 
which impels the sufferer to seek relief in stimulating drinks. 

There are other evil effects of giving these articles to growing 
children, which mothers ought to consider, but which we can not enter 
into here. 

Those who like to study figures may be interested by the following 
estimates, which have been very carefully made. The subject studied 
was a healthy man, weighing 154 pounds, engaged in out-door work. In 
such a body there will be $, or 88 pounds, of water, and f, or 66 
pounds, of solid matter. Such a body loses, every twenty-four hours, 6 
pounds of water and 2 pounds of other substances. These pass off 
through the lungs, the kidneys, skin, and bowels, in the following pro- 
portions : 



AMOUNT OF FORCE FURNISHED BY OUR DAILY FOOD. 



131 



DAILY LOSSES FROM- 



Lungs.-. 
Kidneys. 
Skin .... 
Bowels _ . 



5,000 
23,000 
10,000 

2,000 



12,000 

1,000 

700 

800 



250 
10 
40 



3,300 
140 
100 
460 



Since work expended on digestion is diverted from other purposes, 
the more economical diet for those engaged in hard labor is that which 
supplies these losses with the least effort. The following list is an ex- 
cellent one for the purpose: 

QUANTITY NEEDED. 

Lean beefsteak _ 5,000 grains 

Bread 6,000 " 

Milk 7,000 " 

Potatoes 3,000 " 

Butter or other fat 600 " 

Water 22,900 " 

In the case we are describing, the amount of force furnished by such 
a diet is capable, if applied to a machine, of raising 14,000,000 pounds' 
weight one foot; however, there is so much of it used up in keeping the 
human machine in good working order, the utmost power attainable is 
only equal to raising 3£ million pounds one foot, and an average day's 
labor uses up no more force than would raise two million pounds one 
foot. Nature allows no waste; therefore, when this enormous supply of 
force is not expended in labor or exercise, it is stored up in the form of 
fat, and adds unnecessary weight to the body. About 3,000 pounds of 
solid and liquid material passes through our bodies every year; as the 
larger proportion is designed to supply heat and force, it will be evident 
that those who lead inactive lives need less food than those who work, 
or exercise vigorously. Those who have been very active, but discon- 
tinue exercise or labor, need to lessen the amount eaten. A proportion 
of fat which rounds out the muscles and obliterates wrinkles is a good 
thing; but a larger amount becomes not only a burden, but a danger. 
When Nature has filled all the places designed for storing fat, she is 
compelled to crowd it in where it does not belong; the blood vessels 
are made tender by it, so that they may be easily torn; the muscles of 
the heart are weakened by deposit of fat in them, making them inca- 
pable of keeping up the heart's force. A fatty heart is always a feeble 
one ; under a sudden strain of lifting, running or excitement it is liable 
to give way suddenly. Shortness of breath, dizziness on going up- 
stairs, feeble pulse in obese people, show that the heart is being dam- 



132 DIET SHOULD BE ADAPTED TO THE SEASON. 

aged by fat. The brain may be similarly affected, which, is a forerunner 
of apoplexy. Almost every organ in the body is liable to be disabled 
by an excess of fat. Fortunately, the remedy is not far to seek : the 
cause of the accumulation being too large a proportion of force ■-producing 
food for the amount of labor or exercise, a person of strong will can 
reduce the weight to a healthy standard by cutting off the supplies. 
Because nearly all articles we take as food contain some starch or sugar, 
from which fat is chiefly made, it is not sufficient to depend entirely 
upon a change of diet; an increased amount of exercise, with suitable 
diet, will accomplish the work with less self-denial than when exercise 
is omitted. 

Food Partially Supplies the Place of Clothing.— 

Since food furnishes the fuel of the body, it may, in a measure, take the 
place of extra clothing. The well-fed person will endure, unharmed, a 
degree of cold that will freeze one who is half starved ; the scantily fed 
and clad children of the poor suffer intensely from our winters. 

Relation of Diet to Season.— The heat of the body ought to 

be regulated to suit the season, so far as may be done by care in diet; 
at the approach of warm weather the supply of body -warmers ought to 
be lessened. Hot cakes, with molasses and fat meat, are popular in winter; 
but these are great heat- producers, and, continued after the days begin 
to grow warm, are productive of the disorder known as " spring fever" — 
a mixture of symptoms, of which the more prominent are languor and 
debility, with yawning, and often a dull headache; biliousness and skin 
eruptions are frequently caused by eating too much heat -producing food 
in warm weather. After the mischief is done there is no better medi- 
cine to relieve the overloaded system and restore the equilibrium of the 
life force than "Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic" — a 
remedy not so widely known as .its merits deserve; at the same time, 
fruits and vegetables should replace the sweets and fats that are needed 
in cold weather. 

Effect of Excess or Deficiency of Certain Food Ele 

mentS. — Food containing too large a proportion of albumen, oil or 
starch produces bilious or rheumatic affections and stiffened joints. 
Deficiency of oily material favors the progress of scrofula in those who 
have a tendency to it. Many of our ablest physicians believe that 
scrofulous children will grow up healthy if they can be prevailed upon 



EFFECT OF DEFICIENCY OF CERTAIN FOOD ELEMENTS. 133 

to eat fat freely during their youth. Butter, cream, fat pork or cod- 
liver oil are the forms most easily taken, but none of these will do any 
good when they "rise on the stomach;" that means that the digestive 
powers can not take care of the fat, in which case it must be prepared 
especially in an emulsion, which your doctor or druggist can provide 
for you. In this form it is partly digested fat, which will agree with 
the most delicate stomach. Excess of fat not only produces obesity, 
but throws an extra burden on the liver, that is apt to make it torpid or 
inactive, in which condition the bile is not withdrawn from the blood. 
This gives a yellow tinge to the skin and white of the eye. 

Deficiency of salts in the blood causes softening or deformity of 
the bone; when the teeth, which have previously been sound, become 
brittle and begin to decay rapidly, it means that there is a grave fault, 
in digestion, or a serious lack of proper food. It is sometimes the 
immediate forerunner of consumption or cancer. It is probable that 
there are people who lead languid lives solely for the reason that 
some element which their system needs is lacking. Yeast forms a 
very small part of the loaf, yet it is essential to its quality. The effect 
of being deprived of fresh vegetables for a long time shows itself in 
scurvy. 

Common salt is decomposed in the body, and, in addition to ele- 
ments important to many of the tissues, it furnishes one of the most 
powerful of germ destroyers. The eggs of worms and insects are 
being taken all the time with our food, and salt protects the system 
from many of them. Too much animal food is a frequent cause of 
muscular rheumatism. 

Natural Tendencies May be Modified by Diet— Flesh- 
making food, or nitrogen, is needed for active work, but it makes the 
temper more passionate. Two dogs of the Newfoundland species, 
brothers, were raised in neighboring families. One of them was fed 
exclusively on meat; the other never had any meat except what he might 
have hunted up, but was given a strictly vegetable diet, the object being 
to make him good-natured. The first one became a strong, active animal, 
but exceedingly cross, a terror to neighbors and strangers, whose business 
took them to the house. The second one was vigorous, an excellent 
watch-dog, but not as active as the meat-fed animal. He was not the 
least cross, was never known to bite anything or any one, and was 
remarkable for his intelligence. The method of using force differs 



134 EFFECT OF DIET UPON ENDURANCE AND DISPOSITION. 

somewhat with the kind of food which supplies it. " The hunted 
deer will outrun the leopard in a fair and open chase, because the 
force supplied to its muscles by vegetable food is capable of being 
given out continuously for a long period of time, but in a sudden rush 
at a near distance the leopard will infallibly overtake the deer, because 
its flesh food stores up in the blood a reserve of force capable of being 
given out instantaneously in the form of exceedingly rapid muscular 
actions." Horses fed on hay are quiet, docile, but sluggish or lazy; 
corn, and especially oats, makes them sprightly, energetic, but restless 
and more difficult to manage. 

The prize fighter, undergoing training to develop his physical powers 
to the highest degree, eats largely of meat, at the same time taking 
an enormous amount of muscular exercise, and drinks no liquors at all. 
As the class of men who engage in the "manly art" are not restrained 
from drinking by any scruples, we must conclude that they have 
learned from experience that intoxicating liquors lessen their ability 
to win. 

In a reformatory school in France, it is found that a very generous 
diet is needed for weak-willed boys, to enable them to keep their 
resolutions. This effect of diet may be made useful in allaying the 
stubbornness of a child or in bracing up a man to his work. 

The System Needs Water. — Water forms about three- 
fourths of the body. A large portion of it is taken as a part of the food 
we eat, the remainder as drink; it may be in tea, coffee, cocoa or other 
beverages, but in some form we are compelled to take a large amount 
every day, which varies with the kind of food and exercise taken. 

Thirst is the sensation aroused by lack of water in the blood, or 
by irritating substances in the alimentary canal. Too much salt in the 
food draws water out of the blood ; vigorous exercise produces a like 
effect, the perspiration being increased from the same source. Food 
that ferments, instead of digesting, often becomes extremely irritating, 
reddening the surfaces over which it passes, sometimes even making 
them raw ; water is called for to dilute this compound and make it less 
poisonous. More water is needed in summer than in winter ; by those 
who engage in active out-door labor than by those who lead sedentary 
lives; by large eaters of animal food, than by vegetarians. Water is 
the universal solvent ; its presence in the blood keeps all the elements 
dissolved, that they may be carried where needed; it washes out the 



THE TISSUES MUST BE LIBERALLY SUPPLIED WITH WATER. 135 

wastes and carries them into the blood, where they are disposed of as 
already described. Alcohol will not dissolve many of the ingredients 
in the blood On the other hand, it acts on albumen, coagulating or 
curdling it; in this state it can not be used in nutrition, yet alcohol in 
the blood produces this Very effect. The brain is largely made of albu- 
men; alcohol finds it way to the brain in a minute or two after it is 
swallowed; undoubtedly the lessened intelligence of the drunkard is 
partly due to this effect of alcohol. A cup of cold water is the most 
refreshing and cooling drink that can be given to a person who is suffer- 
ing from the thirst of fever ; the great heat has evaporated the water 
which the blood ought to contain; the water drank soon grows as hot as 
the blood, turns into vapor, which opens the pores of the skin and carries 
off the heat by perspiration. It is always safe to drink water ; even a 
baby will not be hurt by it. The blood will only take up a certain 
amount, no matter how much you drink. Domestic animals often suf- 
fer severely from the thoughtlessness of their owners. They should 
have water where they can go to it whenever they please. Horses, dogs, 
cats need a little water often, especially when fed on dry food Dogs 
perspire through their tongues and mouths ; veiy little sweat comes out 
through the skin; it is cruel to put muzzles upon them to prevent them 
from drinking, or putting out their tongue. 

It is dangerous to drink cold water immediately after violent exercise 
or prolonged exposure to the hot sun, until the body has begun to cool ; 
it is better to bathe the face and hands in cold water before drinking. A 
bath will often relieve severe thirst; when it is not relieved by cold 
water, bits of ice dissolved in the mouth, or hot water, will sometimes 
be very serviceable. Men obliged to labor hard in hot weather, espe- 
cially when exposed to the sun, will run less risk from drinking ice- water 
if oatmeal, in the proportion of half a pint to the gallon, be added and 
stirred in thoroughly, then allowed to settle, after which it is ready to 
drink. Fresh water may be added from time to time, until it is no 
longer given a whitish color; then more oat meal is required. 

Some diseases are kept up by, if they do not originate in, a lack of 
water. Muscular rheumatism, biliousness, dyspepsia, and some forms 
of kidney complaint are among the number. Portions of waste matter 
which water only will dissolve are left in the muscles, the liver, the 
alimentary canal, or kidneys. It is almost useless for a physician to 
advise patients suffering from this trouble to take frequently large 
draughts of water to wash out the tissues; therefore he recommends the 



136 HYGIENIC ADVICE IS APT TO BE UNPOPULAR. 

waters of some distant spring. The patient goes, often with great ex- 
pense and trouble, and does exactly what he might have done at home — 
drinks immense quantities of water, at the same time living upon a 
plain, well-selected diet, such as is advised at the more popular resorts, 
and recovers. We all have, however, a famous precedent for disbelief 
in simple measures— Naaman received with scorn the advice to "Go 
and wash in the Jordan seven times." 



WHAT MAKES THE BLOOD IMPUEE. 137 



CHAPTER XI. 
DISPOSAL OF THE WASTES.— WHAT MAKES THE BLOOD IMPURE. 

The burning of fuel in a stove not only produces heat, but also 
smoke and ashes, which are regarded as wastes. The manufacturing 
of any article out of the raw material leaves a certain amount of 
refuse. The same thing follows within the body in making heat, and 
muscle, and bone, and everything else necessary to it. Waste material 
is always in the way until removed from where it was formed. Such 
material within the body is not only in the way, but becomes a poison 
to it, if retained long beyond the time when it ought to be removed. 
Nature has, therefore, provided amply for its disposal, and most of the 
supplies are taken in through the lungs and the stomach ; but the wastes 
are carried out through four different organs — the skin, the lungs, the 
kidneys and the bowels — in nearly equal proportions, when all are 
working naturally. These are called the excretory organs, from a word 
which means "to carry out." A grown person, during one year, 
needs about twenty times his own weight of materials to keep him in 
good repair. As his size is not much increased in a single year, it fol- 
lows that nearly an equal amount of wastes must be carried out 
(excreted) in the same time. This makes about two pounds daily for 
each of the excretory organs, in an active man weighing 150 lbs., and 
laboring in the open air. The quantity of wastes, as well as of food 
needed, varies considerably with the occupation. Those who do not 
work, and take little exercise, require less material to keep them in good 
condition. 

What Makes the Blood Impure.— The most common 

source of impure blood is retained excretions ; in addition to these 
polluted water and diseased or poisoned food (such as meat, milk, 
cheese, etc., when partially decayed) introduce impurities by the way 
of the stomach, while the vapors and gases from putrefying objects, or 
from patients sick with infectious disorders drawn into the lungs, also 
make the blood impure. When the lungs do not act freely, the car- 



138 



THE IMPORTANT ORGANS LOCATED. 



bonio acid gas, which ought to pass out through them, remains in the 
blood. We have already described the effect of this gas upon work- 
men who go down into wells or vaults where it has accumulated. The 
effect produced by its accumulation in the body is first dullness, head- 




HEIR NATURAL POSITION. 



C. C. Collar Bone; Clavicle. 

1, 2, b, etc. These numbers mark the ribs. 

E. Lower end of breast bone; the rest is cut away to show the organs beneath. 

G. Gall-bladder. 

U. Navel, or Umbilicus. 

The location of the heart is marked by the oval-shaped black outline. The front edge of 
the diaphragm is marked in curved outline across the body. It is attached to the walls at the 
back, lower down than in front, so that the heart is entirely above it. In the illustration it ap- 
pears to project below the diaphragm. The arrows show the direction in which the contents of 
the abdomen are propelled by muscular contractions. 

ache and weariness; after a time the lips look bluish, as well as the 
finger-tips, and all parts usually pink or red, showing that the blood in 
the arteries is black, or dirty blood. Carbonic acid gas accumulates in 



VICABIOTJS ACTION OF VARIOUS ORGANS. 139 

the body whenever fresh air is not supplied to the lungs, or when these 
organs are diseased. A very little of it is carried off through the skin, 
but not enough to purify the blood. The waste left from muscle-making 
is principally a substance called " urea," which should be carried off 
through the kidneys. Sometimes this is not done perfectly, and the 
urea remains in the blood, giving rise to headache, rheumatism, dys- 
pepsia and other chronic complaints. It sometimes collects in quantity 
sufficient to poison the brain and produce convulsions, as in one stage 
of Bright' s Disease. The kidneys also remove a large amount of water 
that has been used to wash out the tissues ; dissolved in it is consider- 
able dirt, that is fully as injurious as urea. Sometimes the kidneys are 
disabled, so that they can not remove the water; when this trouble comes 
on slowly the water collects in the feet, abdomen, or other places, caus- 
ing a swelling to which the name dropsy is given. The solid material 
carried off by the sweat becomes quite as poisonous as anything can 
be, when it is prevented from escaping by the closing of the pores. It 
is so dangerous that Nature loses no time in attempting to dispose 
of it. 

At first the other excretory organs are called upon to assist in the 
work; when they are capable of doing their own work, and also the 
extra amount thrust upon them by the failure of the skin, all goes 
well, and we are not reminded of the accident or negligence which 
closed the pores. This is what occurs when a perfectly healthy person 
is exposed to a chill, yet does not " take a cold." There are, unfortu- 
nately, few people who have perfect health. The excretory organs are 
more or less out of order in most grown people; and, while they carry 
on their business sufficiently well to avert any serious mischief under 
ordinary circumstances, when an emergency arises they fail to do extra 
work, even though they can still attend to their own. In these cases 
immediately upon taking cold, the membrane lining the nose and throat 
are pressed into service; hot, scalding, irritating water flows from it, 
carrying off a portion of the impure matter. When the action of the 
skin is gradually lessened by lack of cleanliness, the effect is not so 
noticeable as when stopped by a sudden chill ; but it is quite as serious 
in the long run. Many forms of chronic disease, which render life 
miserable and cut it off prematurely, begin in the first place with a 
deposit of waste matter in some location where it is carried, when 
Nature has failed to eject it from the body through the usual 
channels. 



140 



RESULT OF DEFICIENT EXCRETION. 



Vicarious Action of the Excretory Organs.— Checked 

perspiration is followed by a largely increased amount of urine, diar- 
rhoea, or congestion of the lungs and air passages, with profuse flow of 
mucus. Should the kidneys suddenly become incapable of removing 
their portion of the wastes from the blood, a profuse perspiration tides 
the patient over the crisis, and he is saved Inactive bowels are accom- 
panied by a foul breath or offensive sweating, showing that the lungs 
or skin, and frequently both, are helping to remove the retained excre- 
tion. Night-sweats of consumption are due to the vicarious action of 
the skin ; although they weaken the patient, yet they lengthen life by 
removing impurities with which the blood is overloaded, not only in 
consumption, but in malaria and every other disease in which they are 
present. Night- sweats are not healthy — far from it — and we would not 
have this point misunderstood; but they never occur except in what the 
doctors call a " crisis," and they remove so much of the material that 
is acting as a poison upon vital parts, that life is prolonged by them. 

Effect of Long-continued Vicarious Work. — The 

extra labor thrown upon any organ, when it assists a disabled one, does 
no harm unless it be too long continued 

The effort to dispose of wastes from the lungs, kidneys or bowels 
through the skin carries to it material that makes sores ; these may be 
in the form of pimples, salt-rheum, boils or ulcers. Material from 
other organs carried to the lungs in greater quantity than they can dis- 
pose of is left in the air cells, filling them, and making hardened spots in 
the lung, into which the air can not go. This matter is in a favorable loca- 
tion and condition to nurture the germ of consumption, and is not an 
uncommon origin of this dread disease. The kidneys are no less en- 
dangered by causes which over -work them. There is another source of 
danger to these organs, which must not be overlooked. People who 
drink too little water, or beverages containing water, do not have the 
wastes dissolved, so that they can readily pass off through the kidneys; 
the consequence is, that the delicate cells of these organs become filled 
up. Have you ever tried to dissolve salt in whisky or alcohol ? If so, 
you most have noticed that the salt settles to the bottom of the glass 
and stays there. Place the same quantity in water, it disappears ; but 
on tasting the water you discover that it is salty, showing that water 
dissolves it. The larger portion of the solid matters taken out of the 
blood by the kidneys dissolve in water, but not in alcohol. Those who 



THE BEST WAY TO PUKIFY THE BLOOD. 141 

drink little other fluid than alcoholic liquor lack water to wash the kid- 
ney cells out clean ; consequently, they become filled, and after a time 
are permanently disabled. This is a common cause of kidney disease. 
Inactive bowels allow large quantities of fecal matter to remain in the 
colon, which hinder digestion and circulation, thereby injuring every 
organ. 

Method Of Purifying the BlOOd..— There is no other way by 
which we can remove impurities from the blood, except through the ex- 
cretory organs. There are two things to be considered in doing this : 
1. To remove present obstruction ; 2. To restore disabled organs. In 
nearly every case where the blood becomes noticeably impure, the bowels 
are more or less constipated. The first thing to be done is to secure a free 
and thorough movement, which shall clear out the entire intestinal canal. 
The medicine selected should be one that will produce this effect with- 
out griping or irritation. For this purpose we know no better cathartic 
than Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills. Two or three of these pills taken 
at bed-time will be sufficient. The next part of the treatment to re- 
store disabled organs requires time — from a few weeks to months, ac- 
cording to the duration of the trouble. Happy Home Blood Purifier 
and Health Tonic is a remedy which can be depended upon to purify 
the blood and restore the health. It contains ingredients that 
strengthen the nerves, stimulate and invigorate all the excretory organs, 
yet is gentle in action and not unpleasant to taste. It can not be 
reasonably expected that any remedy can permanently restore the 
blood to a pure and healthful condition, so long as the causes which led 
to its becoming impure in the first place are still acting. Remove 
these, and the treatment here recommended can be depended upon to 
cure the majority of diseases which result from retained excretions. 



142 



MiCKOSCOPIC GERMS: THEIR RELATION TO HEALTH AND LIFE. 



CHAPTER XII. 
MICROSCOPIC GERMS : THEIR RELATION TO HEALTH AND LIFE. 

The air around us, the water we drink, and our food, unless 
freshly cooked and still hot, are filled with tiny living objects, too 
email to be seen except by a microscope. Some of these are of vege- 
table, others of animal origin. The majority of them are harmless to 
man; a few varieties are not. The simplest form of an animal is the 
amoeba, shown in the accompanying cuts. It has the power of chang- 




9 a. Amoeba digesting its food. 

9 b. Amoeba resting, digestion complete. 



ing its form at will, and we have shown two forms of it. Their size 
varies from ^faro to ra^rs of an inch in diameter ; therefore, they are 
invisible to the naked eye. They are found in all broths, gravies or 
teas that have not become putrid, also in milk; they are very numerous 
in the slimy covering of bodies or objects immersed in fresh or salt 
water ; sometimes on moss or earth. Small as they are, there are 
found within them still smaller animals, called infusoria, which they 
have taken as food ; they also devour minute vegetable germs that 
exist both in air and water. 

The yeast plant, shown in Fig. 14, is a specimen of a very simple 
form of vegetable life. The difference between the yeast and the amoeba, 
so far as can be detected by the eye, does not show to which form of 
life they properly belong, but they are distinct forms. The yeast 
plant possesses the remarkable property of using up or destroying 
sugar and nitrogenous matter, separating it into alcohol and carbonic 



THE ACTION OF MICROSCOPIC GERMS. 



143 



acid. In bread-making the dough is kept warm; this changes the 
nature of the starch in the flour, so that the yeast can seize upon it for 
the material of its own growth. The yeast grows and spreads through 
the dough in the same manner as mildew spreads through old bread 
or cheese, at the same time making carbonic acid and alcohol. The 
heat of the oven hardens the crust on top of the bread, preventing the 
escape of gas, and killing the yeast plant after its work is done. The 
heat also drives off the alcohol and expands the gas, making the loaf 
light and spongy. Germs play a very important part in our life? 




m <5> 




FIG. 14. 
Yeast Germs, or Seeds. | Yeast Plant growing. 



although many of them are so small that a magnifying glass which will 
make one of them appear one inch in diameter would, if it could mag- 
nify a man in the same proportion, make him eleven miles high. Take 
a portion of earth, bake it, so as to kill all living things in it ; then expose 
this burned earth to the air : in a very few days we shall find vege- 
table growths appearing on it that have sprung from germs or seeds 
falling upon it from the air since it was baked. Expose sweetened water 
to the purest air possible; in a short time bubbles will be seen on its sur- 
face, showing that a species of yeast has found its way into it, and is 
breaking up the sugar, making alcohol and carbonic acid gas. Later 
other germs take possession of it and change it into vinegar. There are 
other germs that grow only in the juices of animals and plants ; some 
thrive in the juices of the living, others only in those of the dead. 
Some of these germs grow in the form of single cells, like the amoeba ; 
others in rods, or chains, or threads. Any meat broth exposed to the 
air for a day will become cloudy and thick ; but on examination with a 
microscope it will be found crowded with germs, called, according to 






144 GERMS ARE INDISPENSABLE AGENTS IN NATURE. 

their form, bacilli, bacteria, microbes, etc. ; all belong to the class of 
microccoci, just as flies, mosquitoes and bees, although very differ- 
ent, belong to the insect class. We are indebted to germs for our 
bread, cheese,, vinegar, beer and wine. All germs do not nourish 
alike in the same material ; the germ which transforms milk into curd 
would produce no useful effect at all if mixed with dough, while yeast 
added to milk produces a milk wine (kumiss) instead of a cheesy curd. 
Some germs will grow and develop only in a particular substance, or 
only under special conditions. This is a point of importance in rela- 
tion to "germ diseases;" for, when exposed to them, it is by keeping 
free from the conditions in which they develop that we can be safe 
from infection. 

Heat Destroys all Germs.— If the broth of which we have 
spoken be boiled and sealed up, so that no dust or germs can get into 
it, there would never be any change in it; but the least exposure, such as 
dipping in it a glass rod, touching it with the tip of the finger, although 
clean as we can make it, will start chemical changes and putrescence. 
If there were no germs, all putrefaction would cease — the earth would 
be covered with the corpses of men and animals. There would be no 
decay, no separation into the elements which compose them, and therefore 
no food for plants — nothing in the soil for them to live upon. If plants 
should cease to grow, there would be no food for animals — all creation 
would stop. The magnitude of the minute forces of Nature has often 
been illustrated by the coral reefs that are so slowly reared by the tiny 
coral which contributes its skeleton only to the structure, yet vast 
islands owe their foundation to this insignificant creature. The bed of 
the ocean is being so changed in form by it that science predicts a 
complete transformation of the surface of the earth at some distant 
period. Wonderful as this is, it does not compare in importance with 
the work done by the invisible living germs with which the air, the 
water and all living objects are teeming. There are not less than thirty 
varieties known and recognized as harmless to man; but it is by no 
means probable that these are all. Some of these produce a horrible 
odor; others have no effect on the senses, but their danger or harm- 
lessness does not depend on the smell produced Disease germs, when 
they are taken into perfectly healthy blood, do little if any harm, 
because they do not find it in the conditions suited to their growth and 
development ; but if the blood contains impurities retained beyond the 



CLEANLINESS AN EFFECTUAL PROTECTION AGAINST GERM DISEASES. 145 

time they should have been removed by the excretory organs, then the 
soil is ready for them to produce fermentation, putrefaction and death. 
Wherever foul smells exist, or any form of germ life grows, such as 
mold or mildew, there everything is favorable for other germs. An 
English surgeon, Professor Lister, has proven that the air in hospitals and 
sick-rooms contain germs which grow very rapidly when they fall upon 
an open wound; but by strict protection of wounds from such air and by 
perfect cleanliness he has had such remarkable success in the treatment 
of all kinds of wounds that he has revolutionized the practice the world 
over in this class of cases. We have every evidence that " splenic 
disease " in cattle, that horrible and fatal disease of man, " malignant 
pustule," or wool-sorters' disease, are all traceable to a germ origin. Silk- 
worm disease, hay fever, consumption, all have a similar origin, while it 
is strongly suspected that small-pox, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, 
etc., belong to the class of germ diseases. Whether they are caused 
by true animal germs, which grow and multiply at the expense of the 
blood and tissues of the body, or whether they are grafts — that is, 
portions of diseased matter thrown off from the skin, the lungs or 
other mucous surfaces, which, like the yeast added to the dough, cause 
fermentation — certain it is that in either case, the whole class of germ 
diseases or filth diseases are controlled by strict cleanliness and by dis- 
infection, which means the complete destruction of the germ or poison 
which breeds sickness. The inducements for germs to develop are 
found everywhere. Among the favorite agencies for their growth are 
unclean water, milk that is drawn from cows kept in filthy stables, by 
unclean hands, and kept in an ill -ventilated place; overcrowding and 
consequent foul air in living rooms; decomposing animal and vegetable 
matter, faulty drains, careless disposal of slops and sewage. 



146 DISINFECTANTS ANTISEPTICS DEODORIZERS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
DISINFECTANTS.— ANTISEPTICS.— DEODORIZERS. 

It is said that " dirt is only matter in the wrong place" — a manure 
heap is out of place under a window, notwithstanding the material form- 
ing it is very useful when applied to land. There are three things to 
do in regard to germs: the first is to destroy them so far as possible; 
second, to destroy what they feed upon: third, to destroy the channel 
of communication between them and the human body. Heat and corro- 
sive chemicals destroy both the germs and the food that nourishes them, 
but it is not always easy to apply these effectually. The heat must ex- 
ceed 212°, and be applied not less than ten minutes; and this is not 
always long enough. A dry heat of 240° will not scorch cloth or cot- 
ton. Steam is an excellent disinfectant, but when used to cleanse sheets 
or clothing from patients suffering with a contagious disease, it should 
not be allowed to escape in the room, for it may carry with it some of 
the germs that are not destroyed. Corrosive sublimate is so poisonous 
that it must be used with every precaution, and no solution containing 
it in ever so small a proportion should be left unlabeled, or where children 
can get it ; as it is colorless, it may be mistaken for water. Disinfect- 
ants, antiseptics and deodorizers are frequently confounded, which 
gives rise to a false sense of security. A disinfectant destroys disease 
germs; an antiseptic retards their development; a deodorizer removes 
bad odors. Some drugs possess all three of these properties, when used 
in different proportions. An experiment will prove to which class a 
given article belongs. Take a bottle of sweet milk, and add to it the 
quantity of the drug to be tested in the proportion recommended for 
that particular chemical. If it be a disinfectant, the milk will remain 
sweet for months, even though the bottle be left uncorked. If an anti- 
septic only, the milk will remain sweet much longer than usual, but 
after a few days or weeks will become sour, and, later, putrid. If the 
drug be nothing but a deodorizer, the milk will undergo a change 
about as soon as if no chemical had been added to it, but it will not 
give forth the odors of sour and putrid milk. Deodorizers prevent de- 



COMPARATIVE VALUE OF DISINFECTANTS. 147 

caying matter, which can not be wholly removed, from becoming offensive 
to the sense of the smell, and are very useful in the sick-room; but they 
must not be trusted to destroy the contagion, or prevent its being car- 
ried to others. Antiseptics help overcome unpleasant odors, and lessen 
the risk of contagion ; they are of considerable importance, because many 
of them are not poisonous, and can, therefore, be used where a disinfect- 
ant would be dangerous. Disagreeable smells are a warning that 
something which will injure us needs to be removed. Many of the 
wisest sanitarians are in doubt as to whether disinfectants are really not 
of more harm than service to the world. They must not be used as a cloak 
for dust, dirt and neglect; they will not take the place of fresh air, 
sunlight, soap suds and the dusting brush. Disinfectants, to be of 
service, must be used in much larger quantities than is commonly 
done; they must be brought into direct contact with the germs to 
bo destroyed, and kept in contact with them for several hours — in 
some instances for days. No subject has been more carefully studied dur- 
ing the last ten years than this one of disinfection, because to it we owe 
our safety when epidemic diseases prevail. We have every reason to 
believe that if disinfection were thorough and complete, cholera, yellow 
fever, typhoid fever, etc., could not spread. It has been found that 
materials which have a great reputation as disinfectants differ very 
greatly in power ; that while some of them are to be relied upon to kill 
the germs themselves — that is, the bacillus, bacteria, etc. — yet the seeds 
or eggs of these germs are much harder to destroy. An experiment 
was made with the seeds ( spores ) of one of the most hardy disease 
germs, with the following result : The only substances that would com- 
pletely destroy them within twenty-four hours are corrosive sublimate, 
one part dissolved in five thousand parts of water and sprayed over the 
germs; chlorine water; bromine, one per cent, in water ; iodine water; 
and permanganate of potash, a five per cent, solution in water. It re- 
quired two days for carbolic acid dissolved in water to destroy the most 
difficult ones ; when dissolved in oil or alcohol it did not destroy them at 
all. It was found that the steam from water containing carbolic acid 
is much more effective than steam or carbolic acic alone. Water at 167° 
does not ordinarily affect disease germs; but if it contain carbolic acid 
it will destroy them in about two hours. The fume of burning sulphur 
or sulphurous acid has been generally advised to disinfect houses after 
contagious diseases, but it has been much over-rated. When the germs 
are dry, one per cent, of the vapor from burning sulphur will destroy 



148 METHOD OF DISINFECTING A SICK-ROOM. 

them in twenty minutes: if they be moist, in two minutes; but their 
spores, or seeds, from which new germs spring, are not destroyed by 
this exposure. 

It is also found that the germs must be exposed directly to the 
fumes, so that in disinfecting a room the carpet, curtains, bedding or 
clothing may conceal and protect germs from the action of the sulphu- 
rous gas, unless they are arranged so that the vapor can pass through 
every part of them. To disinfect a room properly with sulphur, the 
windows and doors must be closed, a metal receptacle be filled with 
coals and sulphur be poured on them. A door should be left open for 
the person who does this to get out as quickly as possible, for it is un- 
safe to breathe the smoke ; close the door, and do not open it for 24 
hours. A better way to disinfect a room is this: Peel off the wall- 
paper and bum it ; wet the floor and all wood- work with water; set 
stone or earthen vessels in different parts of the room and at different 
heights; fill with chloride of lime, and set bottles containing muriatic 
acid in this, so arranged that it can leak out a little at a time ; leave 
the room instantly, for the fumes are unbearable; close all doors, 
windows and other openings for 24 hours; then open and ventilate, 
whitewash the walls, and the work is well done. There must be 
six ounces chloride of lime and ten ounces of muriatic acid (spirit 
of sea salt) for each cubic yard the room contains. Muriatic acid is a 
corrosive poison, and must be handled with care. An excellent anti- 
septic solution for the sick-room is a one per cent, solution of carbolic 
acid in soft water. It may be set about the room in saucers to remove 
odors from the air; the spoons, all utensils and the hands of the nurse 
should be washed in such a solution. Vinegar, salt, sugar, charcoal 
are antiseptics. All substances which remove or conceal foul odors 
belong to the class of deodorizers; and we would reiterate the fact that 
this quality does not make them a protection against infection. It is 
not well to use several kinds of disinfectants at the same time, lest they 
neutralize each other. Cream of tartar and soda are employed in 
cooking in such proportions that they unite to form the carbonic acid 
which is needed, but leave no residue to make the batter either sour or 
alkaline; two disinfectants dissimilar in nature may unite to form an- 
other article, differing as much from either as the carbonic acid gas 
differs from the acid and alkali which produced it, and in this change 
the disinfectant properties are lost. 

Soiled garments, awaiting the washing, are saturated with mate- 



TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY DISEASE. 149 

rials given off by the body during the time they were worn. These are 
decaying and forming gases, which, make the air unfit to breathe. 

Stuffed furniture and carpets catch and retain dust, all kinds of 
dirt floating in the air, and disease germs. The space under beds 
should be free from boxes, trunks or bundles, so the air can circulate 
freely around them. It is singular that there are to be found families 
who are considered intelligent, yet use their beds as general storage- 
place for everything. In winter we have known people to pack bread 
and vegetables in the family beds to keep them from freezing daring 
the night — the heat from the bodies of the sleepers being made to do duty 
in protecting these eatables from frost. It would seem .as if every one 
ought to know that where the heat from the body can penetrate, there 
the gases and vapors given off from the bodies can also penetrate. As 
these are given off because they are the wastes, and because their presence 
in the body will make it unhealthy, it is evident that neither sleeping 
apartments nor beds are proper storage-places for food. Feather beds 
and flannel collect and retain impurities and disease germs. In many 
families feather beds are handed down from one generation to the next, 
with very rare cleansing. The family is born upon them, the sick are 
confined for weeks and months upon them, one after another die upon 
them; they are hung out to air a few days, then the family go on using 
them as before. There is no question among physicians but that some 
diseases, supposed to be hereditary, are handed down from one member 
of the family to another through the germs of that particular disease 
stored in the feather bed. In one family of our acquaintance, who 
occupied the old homestead, and used the same furniture and bedding 
that the father and grandfather before had used, with such additions as 
the times demanded, was sadly afflicted with consumption. There had 
been a death or two from this disease in each family who had occupied 
the house, but the one we speak of was the most unfortunate. The 
mother first died, and was followed one after another by two daughters 
and one son. After the funeral of the son, the father returned to the 
house, set it on fire, and burned it with all its contents. He would permit 
nothing to be removed from the house, and as it smoldered in ashes, 
he exclamed, "There! I've ended consumption for this family;" and, 
sure enough, time proved that he had, for the remaining three children, 
as well as the father, are now, many years after the event just described, 
living and in excellent health. The use of vessels for slops in sleeping- 
rooms is productive of injury to the weakly. Even when tightly cov- 



1 5< I : NVENTILATED CELLARS MENACE THE HEALTH OF THE FAMILY. 

ered, there is some evaporation, which lodges in the curtains, the bed- 
ding, the wall-paper, and gives a disagreeable odor to the room, 
quickly noticed by those who are not used to it. Those who sleep in 
such air have the sense of smell blunted after a while, so they can not 
detect the filthy odor. Cellars are reservoirs of bad air. Decaying 
vegetables and moisture, with lack of sunlight, are certain to make the 
air unwholesome. Air passes through the floor to the rooms above, 
carrying with it the vapors which collect in the cellar; such air is most 
injurious to little children playing on the floor, and nearly as bad for 
those who spend most of their time in the house. Impure air in poorly- 
ventilated rooms is the chief cause of the difference in health between 
the women and the men of a family; the latter spend much of their 
time out of doors, or in other air from that at home, and escape some of 
the worst consequences of poor ventilation. To make cellars healthy, 
they should be well drained, and if damp after that they should be 
cemented. It is not generally known that in loose, porous soils, gases 
will penetrate a cellar from privy-vaults or cess-pools some distance 
away. We have known in Chicago a basement to become offensive 
from house-gas. which had found a way through the soil from a broken 
gas-pipe fifty feet distant, and two or three feet under ground. Milk 
absorbs gases and smells of all kinds, yet nothing is more common than to 
find milk set in an unclean cellar for the cream to rise. A bad odor means 
the presence of germs or gases, usually both, neither of which are fit 
to enter the human body, and that is why Nature made these offensive, 
and wave us the sense of smell to detect them. If we ignore Nature, and 
submit ourselves to foul air until our sense is dulled, that does not save 
us from the consequences. Many a case of malaria owes its origin to 
a filthy cellar. It may be well to add that an orderly cellar is not 
necessarily a clean one. It can not be kept clean unless it is swept, and 
all decaying substances taken out; or, in other words, it can not be clean 
without being kept in good order; but it may be free from dust, cob- 
webs, rotting fruit and vegetables, yet be unhealthy for want of fresh 
air. This must be provided for by ventilation. It is not enough to 
open the hatchway or door; windows must be open on every side to 
make the air circulate through it. There is scarcely a day throughout 
the year when these may not be opened at mid-day to advantage. 
Rheumatism is another complaint which owes its origin to a damp cel- 
lar much oftener than is commonly suspected. 

A common coal -oil lamp consumes as much oxygen per hour as a 



LAMPS VITIATE THE AIR OF CLOSED ROOMS. 151 

man; when it is turned low, it sets free gases to pollute the air. Leave 
a lamp turned low an hour or two in a closed room, then return, and 
you will open the door and windows at once, because the air is so offen- 
sive; yet nothing is more common than to turn a lamp low in a sleep- 
ing-room at night. This is an especially bad practice where there are 
children to breathe the fumes, because it irritates their sensitive throats 
and noses, making them more liable to catarrh and sore throat. A gas- 
burner also destroys a large quantity of air; if it is a poor one, it will 
use up as much as four men: therefore, the air of rooms in which 
lights are burning need more frequent changing of air or better ven- 
tilation than others. A good plan for lighting a sick-room without 
rendering the air impure, is to take a starch or raisin box, set the lamp 
inside and place the box outside the window, with the open side fac- 
ing the room. It may be fastened to the window-casing with a nail, or 
tied to the blind. 



152 OUR NATIVE ELEMENT, FRESH AIR. 



CHAPTER XIV 

OUR NATIVE ELEMENT, FKESH AIR.— VENTILATION. 

So long as man dwelt in a tent, and led a wandering life, there 
was no necessity for concerning himself about providing a supply of 
pure air to breathe. Later, when the first rude houses were constructed, 
with a large opening in the top for the smoke to pass out, there was 
little interference with abundant exchange of air between the inside 
and outside of the shelter he had provided. Houses with ample fire- 
places and large chimneys next came into fashion. These were 
healthy, because neither fire-places nor grates will li draw" well when 
there is not pure air to feed the fire — pure, in this case, meaning that 
which contains a due proportion of oxygen. Air may contain oxygen 
enough to make a fire burn briskly, and at the same time be unfit for 
human beings to breathe, because it is loaded with gases or germs 
from decaying vegetable or animal matter. Later, stoves were invented, 
and a questionable benefit they may be considered as now constructed. 
It is true, they save fuel; they make the temperature of a room more 
even throughout, therefore more comfortable; but they do not provide 
for changing the air in our rooms. Our houses are now made snug 
and comparatively air-tight, and a new subject demands our considera- 
tion — namely, that of ventilation. Our ability to change the air in our 
rooms depends upon the simple fact that hot air is light, and cold air 
is heavy. Everyone knows how offensive a stagnant pond becomes, 
and that to make it pure it is only necessary to set up a current of 
water, running through and out of it. To purify the air of a room, 
fresh air from out-doors must be let in, and the foul air let out. If 
this were all there is of ventilation, it could be very quickly accom- 
plished by opening the doors and windows, when the air of the room 
would be exchanged for that from outside — quickly, if the difference of 
temperature be considerable, very slowly when they are nearly the 
same.* Unless acquainted with this fact, one is likely to be puzzled to 
find that sometimes the usual airing fails to purify the rooms. 

The real problem in ventilation — the one which architects and 



WINDOW VENTILATION. 



153 



builders have never satisfactorily solved — is to continually renew the 
air of our living rooms, without chilling the people inside, and without 
wasting heat. If outside air in cold weather be let in at the top of a 
window, it falls down on the head, producing catarrh, colds in the head, 
neuralgia, deafness or sore throat, according to the age and constitu- 
tion of the person exposed. If it comes in at the bottom of a window, 
it chills the feet. While we can endure in safety exposure to great 
extremes of heat and cold, it is remarkable how serious an effect is 
often produced by a current of cool air striking a small portion of the 




PIG. 15. WINDOW VENTILATION. 

The dark Bpace beneath the window-sash is intended to represent a strip of board about 
four inches wide, which exactly fits into the window-frame. This keeps out rain andsnow, but lets 
in a supply of air between the sashes in the direction shown by the arrows. Another strip may 
be fastened above the upper sash, giving a greater inlet for air. 



body. Draughts are, to the young and to the aged alike, more danger- 
ous than any other peril to which they are exposed. Air which has 
been breathed over and over again poisons the blood. Lack of ventil- 
ation, with filthy surroundings, led to those terribly destructive 
epidemics of the middle ages. It is stated by historians that more 
than one-half the population of Europe was destroyed by that horrible 
disease known as the " black death," during the period in which it 
raged most extensively. It is now believed that foul air, together with 



154 STOVE HEAT INJURIOUS TO HEALTH. 

polluted water, gave it the terrible fatality for which it was noted. At 
all events, men were driven to clean up their cities, their premises, their 
houses; they were led to observe the conditions of air, and earth, and 
water. Increased cleanliness and ventilation have put an end to the 
more terrible ravages of pestilence, and placed it under man's control. 
There are various plans for securing fresh air, some of which require 
the advice of an architect, in order to adapt them to dwellings. A few of 
the more simple ways will be described, which require no special outlay, 
and no great exercise of ingenuity. The arrangement of the window, 
as shown in Fig. 15, while it does not supply fresh air as plentifully 
as needed, when it is the only source of ventilation, is much better than 
none at all. 

Another plan is to be preferred when the air passages are very 
sensitive to dust, and the outside air is not free from it. Holes are 
bored through the bottom piece of wood on the top sash, and filled 
with a little loosely packed cotton batting, to strain the soot and 
dust out of the air as it comes into the room. These must be changed 
often, or they will become clogged with dirt and shut out the air 
entirely. Venetian blinds make good ventilators, if the top sash of the 
window be lowered, and the slats be made to slope upward, so as to 
direct the in-coming air to the top of the room. Another excellent plan 
is to have a double lower sash, the outside one fitting into the window- 
frame exactly under the upper sash. An opening about 3x8 inches is 
made in the bottom piece of the lower sash, which is covered by a slide 
that can be opened or closed inside the room. Perforations are made 
between the parallel strips of the upper and lower sash to let the air 
through. 

Some of the Ways in Which Air is Made Unfit to 

Breathe. — A frequent source of ill-health, more especially to women 
and children, who are confined to the house during stormy and cold 
weather, is the stove in ordinary use. There are two sources of injury 
from stoves: the one is the dryness of the air produced by stove heat; 
the other, the escape of dangerous gases generated within the stove. 
A stove heats a room better, in proportion to the amount of fuel 
burned, when it is kept at a low degree of heat ; this is one of the 
reasons which makes the base-burner stove popular. A basin of 
water, placed where it will evaporate, partially replaces the moisture 
dried out by the stove. A long pipe helps economize fuel, by offering 



POISONING BY GAS WHICH ESCAPES FROM STOVES. 



155 



a larger heating surface, but at the same time it creates a larger dry- 
ing surface. The smell of cast iron is due to the charring of organic 
matters floating in the air of the room. 

A wood stove, shut up tight, becomes a charcoal -making apparatus; 
a quantity of carbonic acid gas is formed, which is liable to escape, 
unless the stove is very well made, with nearly air-tight covers and 
doors. This gas poisons persons occupying the room, the same as it 
does those who enter old vaults or wells where it has accumulated. 
Carbonic acid gas, escaping from a stove in too small a quantity to be 
noticed, is still capable of producing dullness, headache, irritated 
throat or cough in those who breathe it. There is a very deadly gas, 
called carbonic oxide, formed in coal stoves. It is produced by the im- 
perfect burning of coal, and may be seen in base-burners as a pale blue 
flame, sometimes playing over the surface of the coal. This gas, 
mixed with the air, so that only one per cent, of it is breathed into the 
lungs, kills quickly. One-half of one per cent, produces serious head- 
aches. A loose-jointed stove, in which hard coal is burned, is a 
dangerous companion. A red-hot stove is also dangerous, whatever be 
the fuel inside, because the oxygen of the air unites with the carbon in 
the iron at red heat, producing a small amount of carbonic oxide. 
There is more danger from a cast-iron than from a wrought-iron stove. 
The danger is diminished when it has a good lining of fire-brick; but. 
a stove should never be allowed to become red-hot. Dickens called 
American stoves " red-hot demons; " however, it is only when red-hot 
that they deserve the name. A good draught, with dampers open, 
carries away safely the most poisonous gases; it is where dampers are 
closed, or the draught is cut off by an obstruction in the flues, that they 
become sources of danger. Recently, in this city, a family were nearly 
smothered in their sleep by the gas, which escaped from a stove with 
dampers closed and door left open. A neighbor, living in the same 
house, smelling the gas, traced it to their door, forced an entrance, and 
found the family insensible. Everyone ought to know that it is unsafe 
to sleep in a room containing a coal fire, or a tightly-closed wood fire, 
without having a window slightly open, or some other means of ventil- 
ation. A bedroom opening into such a room is equally dangerous. In 
the following instance the stove was a first-class one, in good order, 
doors and dampers closed. Mrs. A. retired late, after her family was 
asleep, having first closed all ventilators, contrary to her custom, because 
the weather was intensely cold. About two hours later she was awak- 



156 BLOWING OUT GAS LIGHTS. 

ened by the peculiar snoring of her child, who slept in the same room. 
As she arose she was seized with dizziness, and fell to the floor ; she 
called her husband, but, failing to arouse him and suspecting what had 
happened, by a great effort she managed to make her way to the out- 
side door, and open it; the fresh air immediately revived her. She 
quickly carried her child to the door, and, laying it in the draught, 
tried again to awaken her husband ; failing in this, she called a neigh- 
bor, who summoned a physician. By the persistent use of artificial 
respiration the man was restored, but was severely ill for many weeks 
afterward. The wife and child recovered in a few days. The fire had 
become clogged, so as to completely prevent the escape of the gases 
by the pipe, and they were thrown into the room. 

Last winter a young couple, who had been housekeeping but a 
week, were found dead in their new home, under these circumstances : 
In the kitchen adjoining their bedroom stood the cook- stove, with two 
covers off. It was very cold weather ; the windows and doors, except 
the one between bedroom and kitchen, were closed. All preparations 
were made for breakfast; the covers had evidently been removed to 
hasten the cooling of the stove, as the kindlings were ready to be 
placed in it for the morning fire. The deadly coal-gas from the 
smouldering bed of coals had done the deed. Old stoves, when 
cracked, broken or warped, are never safe. Women who seldom leave 
the house in the winter, and suffer from poor health, which improves 
in summer, not unfrequently owe their ill health to the stove, which has 
served too long for the welfare of the family. While on this subject 
we must call attention to the dangers of house or burning-gas. In 
these days it would seem scarcely necessary to warn anyone against 
" blowing out the gas," were it not that we are continually hearing of 
deaths caused by this act. Gas escaping from the pipes rapidly ren- 
ders the air unfit to breathe. Every burner should be provided with 
a " cut off," that will stop when the pipe is closed. Unfortunately, the 
best of them become unreliable when the fixtures are old, and in turn- 
ing out the light the pipe is likely to be opened again, leaving the gas 
to flow into the room, the same as if it had been blown out. It is a 
prudent plan, especially in a strange room, to hold a lighted match to 
the burner after the light is out, unless perfectly certain that there is 
no escape of gas. Should the light be accidentally blown out while 
turning it off, light the gas again and then turn it out. Another source 
of danger, not as well known to those who habitually use gas as it 



HOUSE GAS IS EXPLOSIVE. 157 

should be, is this: the pressure is sometimes varied or adjusted at the 
gas-works during the night; while this is being done, it is liable to be 
momentarily lessened, when all lights that are left burning low will go 
out, leaving the pipes open for the gas to escape when the pressure is 
increased. A young man came near losing his life recently in this city 
from this cause. He turned his light low when he retired; that was 
the last he knew until he was roused late the next morning by the phy- 
sicians working over him to restore him to consciousness. If he had 
riot recovered, he would have been considered a suicide. It is probable 
that more than one has been branded a suicide, when found dead with 
gas-jet open, who never thought of self-destruction. House-gas, when 
mixed in certain proportion with common air, becomes very explosive. 
A young clerk in an express office in Chicago had this fact impressed 
upon his memory in a way he is not likely to forget. He noticed one 
morning, on opening the vault in which the safes are kept, a very 
strong odor of gas; lighting a match to see where it came from, a tre- 
mendous explosion occurred, which nearly wrecked the building, and 
destroyed the office. Strangely enough, he escaped without serious 
injury. It is not surprising that persons who are acquainted with gas 
only as used for lighting should blunder in this way, when we notice 
that workmen hunt for leaks with a lighted match — sometimes when 
the overpowering odor shows that it is escaping in large quantity. The 
wonder is that explosions are not more frequent. Now that gas- wells 
are becoming so numerous, deaths from gas are likely to multiply. In 
some localities gas is odorless; this is very dangerous, because there is 
absolutely no warning when the pipes leak Last year, in an Eastern 
city, several inmates in one house were suffocated in the day-time by the 
escape of odorless gas into the room which they occupied Numerous 
explosions from the same cause have already been reported; and chem- 
ists are seriously considering the feasibility of passing the gas, before 
it enters the mains, through some substance to give it an odor. In the 
mean time the only safety lies in free ventilation, to prevent its accu- 
mulation in quantity sufficient to do serious mischief. 

Many a family has worked long and economized closely to build a 
new and more commodious house, to find that, when they abandoned 
the old one with its fire-place and open crevices, which let in air too 
freely for comfort, they left their health behind, because fresh air is 
scrupulously kept out, lest it bring dust and flies. A grate permits 
nearly ninety per cent, of the heat to escape up chimney, but it has 



158 DANGER FROM UNVENTILATED PUBLIC HALLS. 

this advantage — it changes the air in the room very quickly; for if no 
air can get into the room except down the chimney, then the smoke 
will come down with it, which is one cause of smoky chimneys. A 
grate, then, is an excellent substitute for a fire-place; but, unfortunately, 
it is not economical, and the high price of fuel in most localities makes 
it necessary to employ the stove. The new air-tight house, with the 
heating stove to make it comfortable, is an expensive luxury in the end 
to people who do not realize the necessity for providing a frequent 
change of air throughout the house. It is true, the walls are not air- 
tight, and some air finds its way through them; this is often consider- 
able on the side against which a strong wind blows. More comes in 
around the key-holes, doors and windows ; but this supply is not suffi- 
cient to keep the inmates healthy. When letting in fresh air it must 
be pure air; if it come laden with the vapors from pig pens, barn- 
yards, manure heaps, stagnant pools or privies, it is poisonous to the 
lungs, and may produce sickness. The air from decaying plants is as 
injurious as that from dead animals; swill pails and garbage barrels 
with their decaying masses of potato peelings, cabbage leaves and other 
refuse should not be allowed to stand in the kitchen, or so near the 
kitchen door that the fumes can be wafted in when the door is open. 
At least one epidemic of diphtheria was apparently caused by decaying 
cabbage. It was confined to the houses on the windward side of a 
large cabbage patch, from which the salable heads had been taken away, 
leaving the stumps and imperfect heads to decay where they stood. 
The smell was very annoying for some weeks before diphtheria appeared 
in the neighborhood. 

Intelligent persons shun the dirty and diseased ; they will not wear 
a garment that has been worn by another; they avoid open sewers and 
all matters that offend the sight, smell, or contaminate the air; they are 
particular that their drinking water is pure and their houses well 
ventilated, yet readily expose themselves to a source of infection and 
filthiness, the effect of which they often do not appreciate, and if they 
did, they are powerless to alter the circumstances. We refer to going to 
public places where are assembled a crowd of people in an illy-ventilated 
hall, some with dirty garments, many with dirty skins, sending out 
into the air by evaporation animal matters in all stages of decay, while 
lung wastes are being given off by all present. Diseases of various 
kinds are there; every breath that is drawn carries into the air passages 
a miscellaneous assortment of germs, gases and organic impurities. 



SICKNESS FROM SLEEPING IN UNVENTILATED BED-ROOMS. 15-J 

This state of things can not be remedied until the public generally 
awaken to the danger. It is a recent discovery that a bacillus of 
peculiar species is found in the lungs of every person suffering with 
consumption. This germ is found in their spittle and their breath. 
No matter what other signs of consumption may be present, the case 
is not now considered hopeless so long as these germs have not found 
their way into the lungs. It is quite possible that persons in feeble 
health may become infected in a public gathering by breathing in germs 
fresh from a consumptive's lungs. The more we learn about diseases 
the greater the number we find, not ordinarily considered "catching," 
that are actually spread through the air, the water and infected 
clothing. 

Railway cars, steamboats and street cars often become infected 
with small-pox, or other epidemic diseases ; they are just as liable to be 
infected with those which are not strictly epidemic, but none the less 
fatal. 

The cause of bad smells in sleeping-rooms in the morning is the 
matter thrown off from the bodies of the sleepers during the night. It 
clings to the walls, the curtains, the carpets and bedding. It is poison- 
ous matter, because all substances rejected by the body, after having 
served their purpose in it, must, like the body itself, be returned to dust, 
to again undergo the transformation through vegetable and animal life in 
the eternal round of matter of which the human body forms a link. It is 
unhealthy to sleep in rooms so poorly ventilated that there is any bad 
smell in the morning. In a certain school for boys, the sleeping-rooms 
were large, containing about twenty cots apiece. In each was a chim- 
ney with an open grate, which was depended upon to ventilate the room 
during the night. All the boys in one room became sick at the same 
time; they had a severe fever and dreadful headache; some were deliri- 
ous. As the others all remained well, the ventilation of the sleeping- room 
was at once suspected of being at fault. The chimney was found stopped 
up tight by some falling bricks and mortar, that were probably dislodged 
by a storm two weeks previous to the outbreak of the sickness. They were 
immediately placed in a well-ventilated room, where they improved at 
once, although it was several weeks before they fully recovered. 

When one is taken ill friends change the bed-clothing, cleanse the 
skin, ventilate the room; but as soon as recovery follows, the patient 
goes back to his old habits. It is said that the only occasion on which 
a Chinaman ever takes a bath is when he is sick; then he soaks and steams 



160 IMPORTANCE OF PURE AIR IN BEDROOMS. 

himself thoroughly. It is much the same way among ourselves. Pre- 
vention is far better than cure, because it is easier and more certain to 
accomplish what we aim at. Breathing impure air is a frequent cause 
of scrofula. Children should not be allowed to form the habit of sleep- 
ing with the head under the bed clothes; in this way they are con- 
stantly breathing in the effluvia given off by the body. There is 
nothing more pernicious to the health of the family than the over- 
crowding of the bed-room. It is astonishing that families, educated in 
our public schools, and intelligent in other respects, will show so little 
regard for comfort in their sleeping arrangements. It is not uncommon 
to find in all parts of our land, in both town and country, small bed- 
rooms with windows always closed at night, and one bed occupied by 
parents and two or three children. When the children do not occupy 
the bed with the parents, they sleep in a trundle-bed, where they receive 
the carbonic acid gas which falls from the lungs of the sleepers in the 
bed above them. As if this were not enough to render the room un- 
bearable, there is ordinarily a vessel containing urine and a basket of 
dirty clothes to still further pollute the air. Scrofula is a disease that 
originates in filth, and especially in foul air. It need not excite surprise 
that the disease is common in children who are reared in homes with 
sleeping apartments of this description. Physicians have a most deli- 
cate task to advise in regard to patients in such families. To suggest 
that the sleeping arrangements are faulty is liable to be construed into 
a reflection upon the neatness of the head of the domestic manage- 
ment, and nothing is more quickly resented. Kind reader, if there is 
ill health in your family, especially if of a chronic kind, or if some 
member is continually ailing, examine your house and surroundings 
with unprejudiced eyes, and see if there be not a fault that needs cor- 
rection before blaming your physician too severely for not accomplish- 
ing the impossible — which, in this case, means overcoming with medicine 
the effects of daily and hourly disobedience of the plainest laws of 
health. 



DRINKING WATER AND DRAINAGE. 161 



CHAPTER XV. 
DRINKING WATER AND DRAINAGE. 

The quality of drinking water and condition of the soil around a 
dwelling-house have a great deal to do with the health of the family. 

The ancients made wonderful provision for a water supply in their 
cities; the Romans thought 300 gallons per head necessary for each 
day. There is no city of modern times so well provided with water; 
while, taking the country through, the supply is meager compared with 
that which dwellers in our cities have. There are certain qualities 
which drinking water must possess to be healthful ; it should be clear, 
transparent, colorless and contain no sediment. It should taste fresh, 
but neither salt nor sweet ; it should have no smell when first drawn, 
nor after standing several days in the air; yet, water which answers all 
these conditions may be unfit to drink; it may be clear and sparkling, 
yet dangerous. The most scrupulous care must be used to protect the 
sources of the water supply from being poisoned with animal or vege- 
table matter, or by the refuse from factories. Our cities mostly depend 
upon rivers, lake, springs and artesian wells for their supply, while the 
country is dependent upon springs and surface wells. An artesian 
well is one which is bored through the various layers of soil, clay and 
rock until it strikes what are called the "water-bearing rocks;" the 
water has trickled down to that strata from a great distance, and is very 
thoroughly filtered, although it sometimes contains minerals washed 
from the rocks through which it has passed. A flowing well is one in 
which the source is higher than the outlet. A surface well, however 
deep, is one which gathers water from the soil adjacent to it. During 
a rain-fall the water filters down through the soil, until it reaches a 
layer of heavy clay or stone, which it does not pass through, making 
an underground pond or stream, according to the "lay of the land." 

The ordinary well is a hole about three feet in diameter, dug 
through the soil down to this collection of water. When it is cemented 
from top to bottom, as it ought to be, no surface water can flow into it 



102 



FREEZING DUES NOT KILL DISEASE GEHMS. 



until filtered by trickling through the soil to the bottom of the well. 
If it be deep, such water is very well purified; but this is not true of 
a shallow well, unless the soil surrounding it for many yards in every 
direction is clean. Slops, manure or any filth allowed on the ground 
within many feet of the well will be washed down into the underground 
reservoir during long rains. The practice of washing dirty objects 
near the well, at the same time allowing the water to soak into the 
ground, is a certain way to pollute the well itself. Disease germs have 
been known to find their way into drinking water by throwing the 
contents of the wash-tub, in which clothes from sick patients had just 
been washed, into the back yard, at what was supposed to be a safe 
distance from the well. The practice of throwing kitchen slops out 




Chalk. 

FIG. 16. ARTESIAN WELL. 
This illustration shows an artesian well, bored through a great depth of rock to water- 
bearing strata. A surface well is also shown, which is sunk in the same kind of water-bearing 
earth, at a place where it reaches nearly or quite to the top of the ground. While filth may 
readily be washed down through this material into the surface well, it must be carried bo far to 
reach the supply of the artesian well that it is thoroughly filtered, and there is little probability 
of the water being contaminated. 

upon the snow all winter has been believed to be harmless, because the 
cold was supposed to destroy all decaying matter, or, at least, all power it 
has of doing harm. The microscope has lately revealed the startling 
fact that some disease germs are not killed by freezing. The germs of 
typhoid fever have been found alive after thawing the block of ice in 
which they had been incased for months, and capable of producing the 
disease in animals in which they have been inoculated. The reader 
has, doubtless, seen back yards in which slops, kitchen refuse and all 
kinds of filth have been thrown .during the winter, until the mingled 
snow, ice and animal matters formed a heap much higher than the top 
of the well in the same yard. The spring rains can not at first pass 
through the ice, and naturally run off* into the well, dissolving and 
carrying with them a portion of the refuse. 

At the approach of spring, when the days begin to grow warm, 
the hearty winter diet containing too large a proportion of heat-making 
food for the new season, produces a sense of languor or laziness; to 



FATALITY RESULTING FROM IMPURE DRINKING WATER. 



163 



this is added the blood poisoning by impure water, made impure in the 
way suggested; therefore, it is not strange that spring is looked upon 
as an unhealthy season. This time of year is just as healthy as any 
for people who adapt their diet and dress to the weather, who breathe 
pure air and drink pure water. The soil of marshy locations contains 
a large amount of decaying animal and vegetable matter, which is dis- 
solved and held in solution by the water found in those places; hence, 
that which is used for domestic purposes is liable to produce ague. A 
striking example of the effect of such water occurred a long time ago. 
Three ships started from Algiers, having 800 soldiers aboard. On one 




This illustration shows a level surface of ground, with nothing to mark the direction of the 
natural drainage. The water-line shows its direction. The well being located so that the under- 
ground water flows past it to the cess-pool, or vault, is in no danger of contamination from that 
source during high water. 



of these ships were 120 men, of, whom 13 died; of the remainder, 98 
landed at Marseilles with the ague. None died or had ague in the 
other ships. It was found that part of the water on the unfortunate 
vessel was drawn from a well in a marshy locality, near the harbor from 
whence they started, while the water supply for the others, and a por- 
tion of this ship's supply, were brought from a distant spring. Those 
who escaped sickness drank none of the marsh water. The water of wells 
in good soil, and originally of excellent quality, may become polluted 
without this fact being suspected, until malaria or an outbreak of fever 
appears among those dependent upon it. 

It has been considered very mysterious that ague has, of late 
years, often appeared in communities where it was formerly unknown. 
Some have tried to account for it on the supposition that atmospheric 
conditions are responsible. The fact is, the change is due to accumu- 
lated filth. A new farm is settled for the first time, a well is dug in a 
good place, the ground is packed hard, so that surface water does not 
penetrate it; the earth is clean and free from vegetable or animal 
matter, the clay from the bottom of the well being commonly packed 



164 ACCIDENTAL POLLUTION OF WATER SUPPLY. 

around it. The privy is placed at a distance supposed to be safe, the 
drain, or cess-pool, is also at a distance from the well. The premises 
are kept clean, and for a long period such a place will remain healthy. 
The family grow up and separate; others occupy the place. Each 
family contributes to the pollution of the premises. The drain, or 
cess-pool, in time permits some of its contents to ooze through into the 
soil; the rains carry it farther and farther away. The privy vault also 
permits its contents to ooze out. Slops are thrown upon the ground 
around the well. The soil is one of the best disinfectants in the world, 
but it must be renewed by turning it up and exposing to the elements, 
or its power to disinfect will be lost. Charcoal is in some respects a 
stronger disinfectant than earth, yet one pound of charcoal can purify 
only about sixty pounds of water, when it must be exposed to air and 
heat to restore its power. In time the soil all around the well, and to 
a considerable depth, becomes satiu-ated with substances which the 
soaking rains of spring or fall wash into it. Malaria then becomes 
prevalent among those who use the water from this well. 

An outbreak of sickness, for which there is no apparent cause, is 
nearly always due to a sudden pollution of the water by a broken drain 
pipe, or an open communication between the privy vault and the well. 
On one occasion typhoid fever, in its most virulent form, broke out in a 
farmer's family. The members of this family were remarkably strong 
and healthy. Nearly every one was attacked by the disease the same 
week. It excited almost a panic in the settlement; and, after two or 
three neighbors who had assisted in caring for the sick were also 
seized with the fever, it was almost impossible to secure help. It was 
years ago, when very little was known of the cause of typhoid fever, and 
the manner in which the infection is conveyed was still a disputed 
point. Among other tests employed to discover the origin of the dis- 
ease, peppermint was thrown in the privy vault; after about half an 
hour water drawn from the surface of the well had a distinct odor of 
peppermint, showing that fluids from the vault trickled through the soil 
into the well. The latter was closed, and all water used in the house 
was brought from a distant spring. There were no more cases of the 
disease, and all except one of the family recovered. Afterward, in dig- 
ging down to discover the cause of the trouble, a loose sandy layer of 
earth was found several feet below the surface, tapped both by the well 
and the vault. A heavy rain, which had occurred a short time previous 
to the outbreak of the fever, had probably washed out a portion of the 



EFFECT OF DRAINAGE UPON PUBLIC HEALTH. 



165 



sand, making an open passage between them. This was less likely to 
be suspected, because the house was located on the highest point, the 
well near it; and down a slight incline, about 75 feet distant, was 
the privy. Looking at the top of the ground it seemed that the 
drainage must be away from the well, but such was not the fact. Only 
a little more than 100 years ago, ague was so prevalent in many parts 
of Great Britain that an attack was looked upon as a necessary evil, 
from which there was no deliverance. In consequence of draining the 
land and removing dung-hills away from the houses, those now living 
on the same soil do not have ague at all. Soil itself is an accumulation 
of decayed or decaying organic matter; the thicker and richer it is, the 
more of such material it contains. New, shallow wells, fed from sur- 
face water, are prolific sources of malaria, as the new settlers upon our 
Western prairies have learned to their cost. 




We have here another level surface, the ground presenting the same appearance as in Fig. 
18. At the usual height of the underground water, the well is in no danger of contamination from 
the cess-pool, unless the contents of the latter ooze through its wall, when they will naturally 
drain towards the well. During high-water, the drainage from the cess-pool is almost certain to 
be carried into the well. 

Deep wells, thoroughly protected from an influx of surface water, 
may be expensive, but they cost less than sickness. One of the smaller 
cities of Indiana was formerly unpleasantly noted for the prevalence 
of malaria. The citizens constructed water-works, bringing their 
water from distant springs, because the well water was of poor quality. 
Malaria was unexpectedly banished from their midst — a convincing 
proof that in that locality at least, impure water produced malaria. 
Epidemics of cholera have taught the world important lessons as re- 
gards water supply. For example, in Glasgow in 1854, no less than 
3,886 people died from cholera. The city at that time was supplied 
with river water. In 1866 the city supply came from Loch Katrine, 
pure and undefiled; that year cholera carried off only sixty-eight 
victims. 

Water that comes from surface soils, loose sand and soft sand-stone 



l*)fi CISTERNS THE BEST SUBSTITUTE FOR SURFACE WELLS. 

is almost always impure. A surface well may be known by its filling 
up rapidly during rainy weather; if fed by springs or deep under- 
ground reservoirs, it remains at nearly the same level the year round. 
Spilling water at the well, so that it finds its ways back into it, is a bad 
practice, because it will carry with it dirt, etc. A drain, well paved to 
prevent leakage, should slope away from the well to carry off the 
waste water. Chalk and limestone formations furnish water that is 
very hard, but otherwise pure. It forms a coating inside the tea-kettle ; 
an oyster shell kept in the tea-kettle will collect the sediment and pre- 
vent its forming on the kettle. Water from soil that contains much 
magnesia produces a swelled neck, or goitre, in some persons. Rain 
water is often very impure. It washes the impurities out of the air, 
and also is further contaminated by bird- droppings on the roof and in 
the eaves-spouts. Filtering is a good method of purifying water when 
the filter is kept clean. When cholera or other epidemics are about, 
all water should be boiled before using or filtering. Let it cool before 
putting it in the filter. The taste, sight, or smell is not to be depended 
upon to detect 'impure water. Many contagious diseases are carried by 
water. Rats, worms and flies revel in filth ; they go about trailing it along 
everywhere, polluting not alone the water, but the air and the food 
which they run over. Milk is unfit for food when drawn from cows 
that are compelled to drink filthy water. 

New Orleans, in its early days a hot-bed of disease — a city peculiarly 
fatal to Northern people — has been transformed into one of the health- 
iest of Southern cities, partly by improved drainage, but mainly by the 
exclusive use of rain water for all domestic purposes. Immense cis- 
terns on the house-tops, or on an elevated scaffold, collect and hold the 
supply, which is filtered before using. All localities where good well 
water or clean springs are not found should be provided with cisterns. 
When the roofs collect the supply for the cisterns, the pipe leading to 
the latter should have a loose section, which can be turned so as to 
carry the water which first runs off the roof into the drain. As soon as 
the water looks clean, it can then be allowed to run into the cistern. 
Filters are necessary to make rain water palatable or healthful ; but too 
much confidence must not be placed in them. They need care, and 
occasional renewal of charcoal, to keep them in order. On one occasion 
an epidemic of typhoid fever was traced to an unusual cause. The 
locality was a college town, dependent upon cistern water, and where 
many students boarded in private families. A student, at the opening 



REQUISITES OF A GOOD FILTER. 167 

of the year, came to the town, sick with what proved to be typhoid 
fever, which was recognized by the attending physician in time to send 
him home. He was at his boarding- place probably not more than two 
days. It happened that the chambermaid, unknown to her mistress, 
had adopted the plan of throwing the slops from the boarders' rooms 
out of a back window, where a small quantity fel] on the kitchen roof. 
The rain washed the roof and flowed into the cistern; the filter had been 
used a year or more without attention, because the dealer who had fur- 
nished it assured the good lady that it needed no care, but was " abso- 
lutely indestructible." Every member of this family suffered from an 
attack of typhoid fever; those who came to care for the sick and drank 
the water also were infected. The investigation that followed proved 
the facts to be as stated. 

Filters. — It is very unsafe to trust to a filter, without knowing 
whether it is properly constructed. Many of the devices offered for 
filtering water are mere strainers. The dangerous germs which intro- 
duce disease into the blood are many times smaller than the smallest 
mesh in the finest strainer, therefore will pass readily through. A 
filter must do something more than strain. It must let the water pass 
very slowly; it must break it up into very fine drops, because the puri- 
fying is done by oxygen, and each atom of water must be exposed to 
it. It has been estimated that one cubic yard of sand contains parti- 
cles enough to make 2,500 square yards of surface; the amount of 
water a cubic yard of sand will hold makes a film only riff of an 
inch thick over this surface, when it is brought into closest contact 
with oxygen, which, as we have previously found, speedily destroys 
the poisonous principle of organic matter. The air in the filter pro- 
vides some of the oxygen, but the charcoal furnishes the greater part. 
A filter which is used a long time without cleansing accumulates impuri- 
ties from the water passing through it, because the oxygen is not 
renewed as fast as it is used up. These not only form a slimy coating 
over the particles of sand and charcoal, but sometimes breed worms. 
The following directions for making filters and keeping them in order 
may be relied upon to secure pure water: 

French Filter. — Take a stone churn holding about ten gallons 
(a keg of equal size will do, but is apt to taste of wood) ; put in a tin 
stop-cock about one inch from the bottom, and, a little above this, an 
earthenware plate, pierced with small holes, like a sieve. The conical 
shape of the jar will hold this in place. Upon the plate lay clean, dry 



168 



VN EFFICIENT HOME-MADE FILTER. 



small pebbles for an inch; then lay upon this an inch and a half of 
dry, clean, coarse sand; and upon this a half -inch layer of charcoal in 
small lumps; and upon the charcoal an inch of fine sand The whole 
will settle together into a layer three inches thick. Then top off 
with pebbles as large as an egg, to prevent water, as it is poured in, 
from displacing the filtering substance below. Cover the jar, and the 
filter is complete. It will supply ten or twelve persons plentifully. 
The charcoal should be changed two or three times a year; at the same 
time take out the oand and pebbles, wash and scald them, and dry in 
the sun. 

Haskin Filter. — Mr. Haskin, of Fordham, N. Y., has described 
a filter that can be made for less than two dollars. He has used one 
for ten years. He says that, previous to using it, his family had fever 
and ague continually, but have been entirely free from it since. The 
articles needed to construct it are as follows : A clean whisky barrel, 
a bushel of clean sand, a bushel of white stone-roofing pebbles, a bushel 
of charcoal, a wooden barrel faucet, a false wood bottom, which exactly 
fits inside the barrel, nine inches above the lower one. Perforate the 
false bottom with ten half-inch holes, and cover one inch deep with 
white pebbles; next with a layer of sand, then with a layer of charcoal; 
repeat the operation, making six layers in all, with a thick layer of peb- 
bles on the top. Make a wood cover to the barrel, insert the faucet an 
inch above the lower bottom, and the filter is complete. 

Sites for Dwelling Houses.— The condition of the soil 

around the dwellinghouse is scarcely less important than the water 
supply. It is not enough that garbage of all kinds be prevented from 
accumulating upon it. Most people at this day understand the risk 
of allowing this, but the drainage of the soil is not deemed so neces- 
sary. If the location be naturally damp, it is all the more important 
that drains be made that will take away the surplus moisture as well 
as the water which falls during a shower. Pools of water allowed to 
stand become stagnant and breed fevers. Consumption is partial to 
damp locations. As an example of what may be done to control this 
.scourge, we learn, from the American Health Reports, that in places in 
New England where this disease was formerly very prevalent, it is at 
present almost unknown, owing to better drainage and more care in 
selecting the site for dwellings, as well as to improved hygienic habits. 
The early settlers looked mainly to present convenience in placing 
their houses ; they built near springs, or in shaded locations, beside 



Hamilton's health aphorisms. 169 

hills or among trees as a protection against wind and sun. The for- 
mer location was apt to be damp from abundance of water, the latter 
from too little evaporation; for, whatever obstruction there may be to 
the free play of the wind, or the bright rays of the sun, checks evapo- 
ration of the moisture on the surface of the ground. In connection 
with this subject the following pithy truths are so admirably expressed 
by Dr. Hamilton, that we copy them entire. They are entitled " Health 
Aphorisms": 

1. Fresh water covering the ground is healthy, but ground lately 
covered with fresh water is unhealthy. 

2. A moist cellar is more dangerous than a wet cellar. 

3. A basement is never healthy. Moist and poisonous vapors 
floating along the surface of the ground are continually pouring into 
these receptacles. 

4. A house whose windows are covered by vines, or shaded by 
trees or mountains, is not healthy, as it can be neither light nor dry. 

5. One case of fever and ague originating in the soil establishes 
its insalubrity. 

6. Drain the yard and keep the house dry. 

7. In choosing a residence, inquire of some person who formerly 
lived in the neighborhood, but has sold out, in regard to the sur- 
roundings. 



170 DISEASE AND ITS TREATMENT. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

DISEASE AND ITS TREATMENT, INCLUDING PREVENTIVE, HYGIENIC 
AND MEDICINAL MEASURES. 

Disease consists of an increased, decreased or perverted action of 
one or more organs of the body. It is not enough to know which of 
these three conditions is at the foundation of a sickness — we must know 
what is the cause at work to bring about that condition. There may 
be a fault in the nervous system, which interferes with the nerve con- 
trol of the parts affected, or there may be some obstruction or irritant 
at work in those parts, which prevents their responding to the influence 
of the nerve force. Most of the diseases to which the human race are 
subject depend upon disordered excretions, unsuitable diet, and acci- 
dents. Nature sets up vomiting, as a rule, because the stomach con- 
tains something that will injure the body if it be not removed; diarrhoea 
often indicates a similar condition within the intestines; a profuse 
sweat following a fever is an effort to unload the blood of effete mat- 
ter through the skin. A discharge of any kind is almost invariably 
composed of noxious material, with the single exception occurring in 
greatly debilitated persons, in whom the tissues are so relaxed that the 
natural fluids of the body ooze away without hindrance. Taking a 
hint from Nature, we give emetics to unload the stomach, cathartics 
to cleanse the intestinal canal, medicines to produce perspiration in 
order to remove wastes from the blood, expectorants to raise phlegm 
and other matters from the lungs, and diuretics to stimulate the kid- 
neys, to increase the amount of urine separated from the blood. In 
other words, we seek to stimulate organs deficient in action, to soothe 
those already too active, and to change the action of those which are 
perverted. 

Fevers. — Fevers, during the first stage, are so much alike that it 
is impossible to tell what form they will take. There is in the beginning 
weariness, a hot and dry skin, with rapid pulse and an increase of tem- 
perature. The natural heat, 98i°, may be raised during exercise, after a 



THREE CLASSES OF FEVERS. 171 

hearty meal, or under the use of stimulants, a degree or a little more, 
without being a sign of fever; but, with the symptoms above given, a 
rise of temperature means the beginning of fever: the higher it rises, 
as a rule, the severer the illness, but this is not always true. 

Most fevers run a definite course, and end at a given time, unless 
shortened by treatment. They may, for convenience of description, be 
divided into three classes : 

1. Continued fevers, which include simple fever, influenza or 
catarrhal fever and typhoid, etc. 

2. Periodical fevers, such as intermittents, remittents, congestive 
fever, etc. 

3. Eruptive fevers, embracing scarlet fever, measles, small -pox, 
chicken-pox and erysipelas. 

In all fevers there are four stages: the first covers the period during 
which the fever is coming on, called the stage of incubation ; the second, 
the cold; the third, the hot ; and fourth, the sweating stage. To prevent a 
f ever, or to cut it short, is possible only during the forming, or incubation 
stage. At that time there is a feeling of distress, a sense of approaching 
sickness, more or less headache, frequently backache, with pain in the 
limbs, scanty urine and constipation. An active dose of medicine to 
open the bowels, increase the urine and produce moisture of the skin, 
taken at this time, will frequently put an end to all signs of disease. 
Any medicine that will accomplish the purpose will answer ; but we 
have found that nothing excels the following treatment in preventing 
fever of all kinds: Take a laxative dose of Eilert's Daylight Liver 
Pills at bed-time, and also when convenient soak the feet in hot water 
for half an hour, at the same time taking a bath. Add a heaping tea- 
spoonful of bi-carbonate of soda to each pint of water, using any good, 
clean, hard soap ; after bathing the skin thoroughly, rub it dry with a 
coarse towel, so as to cause a warm glow, and bring the blood to the sur- 
face. It is better to do this at bed- time, so that on retiring immediately 
with something hot at the feet sweating may begin. When success- 
ful in getting the skin moist and the pills operate freely, the fever 
poison will be so nearly removed that Nature can do the rest, and the 
fever will be cut short. When fevers are prevailing in a region 
the Happy Home Blood Purifier is an excellent preventive. It keeps the 
blood pure by gently exciting the excretory organs to remove all wastes, 
thus relieving it of the material which furnishes a germinating place 
for the seeds of disease. 



172 CONTINUED FEVER — CATARRHAL FEVER. 

A Simple Continued Fever is one that begins with a 

chill, followed by a fever with a hot skin, quick pulse and red face; this 
fever continues to rise until the skin begins to sweat, the urine increases 
in quantity or the bowels move freely; then it gradually dies away in 
cases that recover. Such a fever may last a day, or be prolonged for 
weeks. The simple fever of this kind is most frequently seen in chil- 
dren, being caused by a cold or by some improper food, which irritates 
the stomach and intestines. It is not uncommon to see children ap- 
parently dangerously sick and delirious, and in a few hours as well as 
ever. If there be reason to think a child has fermenting or undigesti- 
ble food in the stomach, it is an excellent plan to produce vomiting as 
soon as possible. A good emetic for a child is made by steeping a 
heaping tea-spoonful of powdered ipecac in six ounces of chamomile tea; 
sweeten and give in teaspoonful doses every 15 minutes until vomiting 
occurs. This treatment will also prevent convulsions caused by an 
overloaded stomach, or obstructed bowels. 

A Cold, or Catarrhal Fever.— This disorder results from a 
sudden or unequal cooling of the body, which affects the nervous sys- 
tem in a peculiar way. The nerves which control the pores are ordered 
"to close the doors:" they obey, and the mouths of the pores are 
drawn up to prevent the escape of the perspiration. As shown in the 
chapter upon the excretions, other organs come to the rescue. A cold 
in the head is marked by sneezing and a discharge from the nostrils. 
A cold in the throat is shown by hoarseness and sore glands, with more 
or less swelling in and around the throat ; a cold in the chest, by cough 
and difficult breathing; a cold in the kidneys, liver, stomach or abdo- 
men, by neuralgic pain and soreness on pressure over those organs, 
with indigestion, and later diarrhoea or constipation. 

Treatment. — Measures for relief must be taken within five or 
six hours to succeed in "breaking up a cold." Neglected, it runs a 
definite course from a week to ten days, and terminates in recovery, or 
in chronic catarrh, pneumonia, pleurisy or consumption, according to 
the constitution of the patient and the state of the system at the time. 
There should be an attempt to restore perspiration, and heat is usually 
the most convenient agent for the purpose. There are various ways 
of applying heat — one of the most effectual being the vapor bath, 
which may be given in any house. 

The Vapor Bath. — Take a common chair with wooden bottom ; 



METHOD OF GIVING A VAPOR BATH. 173 

place it out of the way of draughts, and let the patient, after removing 
all clothing, be seated in this chair, with a large woolen blanket drawn 
close about the neck, inclosing patient and chair, as if it were a 
tent; pour two or three table-spoonfuls of alcohol (about half a tea- 
cupful) in a saucer, set in an empty tin basin; place this under the 
chair; draw the blanket away from it, and light the alcohol with a 
match, immediately closing all apertures to retain the heat. Should 
the patient feel faint from the sudden heat, moisten the forehead and 
face with cold water, which ought always to be placed near to provide 
against faintness. The action of the bath is assisted by giving at the 
same time hot lemonade, hot ginger or spearmint tea — or, if these are 
objected to, simple hot water; whatever is taken should be in large 
quantity to supply water to the blood as fast as it is parted with, when 
perspiration begins, and in this way " wash out " the disease-producing 
matter. The patient should remain exposed to the heat for not less 
than twenty minutes ; if the alcohol does not last so long, it may be 
replenished in this way: Caution. — Draw the saucer out from beneath 
the blanket, and away from the patient before refilling; pour in the 
alcohol, and replace in the basin under the chair before lighting. The 
basin is for safety in case the saucer should break from the heat. 
Wrap the patient in the hot blanket, and cover snugly in bed, placing 
a hot brick to the feet. At the end of an hour remove the covers, one 
by one, at intervals of fifteen minutes, to cool off the patient; and 
when sweating ceases and the skin feels dry, let him put on his under- 
clothing and retire as usual, taking care to have the bed warm. In 
the morning bathe the skin with tepid water, containing a tea- spoonful or 
two of aqua ammonia, and give it a thorough rubbing. This is to 
make it less sensitive to cold. Without some such precaution a patient 
takes cold more easily after a bath than before. Those who object to 
the use of alcohol may substitute for it a pan of hot water, and throw 
into it a hot brick or flat iron, taking care to protect the patient's 
limbs from the hot water thrown out as the hot brick is thrown in. 
This is a valuable remedy in all chilly conditions, except when a 
patient is falling sick with small-pox. There are many people without 
homes or any one to assist them in this treatment; the best they can 
do at the beginning of a cold is to heat the feet well at bed- time, and 
take a three-grain Dover's powder; this is useless after 24 hours. 
Immediately upon feeling an irritatipn of the throat, after a 
cold is taken, begin the use of Eilert's Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry. 



174 



INFLUENZA TYPHOID FEVEB. 



This, in most cases, will cure a cold without any other medicine, pro- 
vided some means of restoring lost heat is resorted to. The later 
effects of a cold will be treated of under the respective diseases pro- 
duced by it. Should the bowels be inactive, a cathartic dose of Eilert's 
Daylight Liver Pills will be useful in preventing congestions. 

Influenza. — This appears periodically as a wide-spread epi- 
demic, extending over large portions of the earth at the same time. It 
is believed to be due to some peculiar atmospheric disturbance. The 
symptoms are a sense of tension in the forehead, watery eyes, sneezing, 
cough and oppression of the chest; so far they appear like an ordinary 
cold, but the chief characteristic is extreme physical prostration. There 
is also mental depression, desire for quiet and rest, and inability for 
exertion. 

Treatment. — Employ the measures recommended for a cold. 
Apply Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment to the chest, and keep as 
quiet as possible. This disease is dangerous when it attacks the aged 
and those of feeble constitution. When irritation of the nasal and air 
passages is extreme, inhale the vapor of camphor water for a few miuutes 
every two or three hours. 

Typhoid Fever is a disease of slow and insidious approach. 
For days, and sometimes weeks, the patient is ailing. There is a sense 
of weakness and fatigue, loss of appetite, soreness of the muscles, dull 
headache, disturbed sleep, poor appetite and low spirits. All of these 
symptoms are witnessed in other fevers ; therefore, it is seldom possible 
to tell whether typhoid or other disease is impending until later. The 
patient becomes chilly, and, following this is fever, often accompanied 
with great thirst; after a time the bowels become bloated and tender 
to the touch ; the tongue is coated, usually with red edges and a dark 
streak through the center. The teeth are soon covered with dried 
mucus, and the mind becomes dull and wandering. About the sixth 
to the eighth day (never earlier than the fifth) of the fever, the pecu- 
liar eruption appears on the chest, or between the nipples and the navel. 
It consists of scattered red spots, which at first resemble flea-bites, but 
later become larger, and sometimes very dark colored; generally they 
are rose-colored. They give no feeling of hardness to the finger as it 
is passed over them, and the redness fades away under pressure. This 
eruption is not invariably present in typhoid fever, and neither its 
presence nor its absence seems to have anything to do with the severity 



ORIGIN OF TYPHOID FEVER. 175 

of the fever. During the later stages diarrhoea is often very trouble- 
some, and it is not uncommon for a profuse haemorrhage from the bowels 
to occur. The disease lasts from three weeks to three months. A rule 
that has many exceptions is, that, when this fever lasts longer than 
seven days, it will continue fourteen; if it does not at that time begin 
to lessen, it will continue another seven days before convalescence 
begins. It is a fact that the morbid element in the blood which gives 
rise to the disease requires about seven days for the completion of its 
development; and whether, at the end of that time, there is a new 
crop of germs ready to renew or maintain the disturbance of the system 
during their life-time, or whether this periodic character of the disease 
is owing to some other cause, we are not prepared to say. Haemorrhage 
from the nose is frequently an early and troublesome complication. It 
may be checked by placing ice on the nape of the neck. Wrap the ice 
in a cloth, and protect the clothing from becoming wet as it melts; for 
the dampness thus produced is not only unpleasant, but positively 
injurious. It is believed that typhoid fever originates in drinking 
water that is contaminated by the discharges from a patient suffering 
from the disease. Milk from dairies where there are typhoid fever 
patients on the premises has been known to infect the families to whom 
it was distribiited. 

In one instance where an epidemic of this fever was thoroughly 
investigated, it was traced to a milk-man, as only the families supplied 
by him were infected. It was found that one of the family had been 
a long time ill with typhoid fever, and that the utensils from the sick- 
room were emptied upon the bank of a small creek, which, a little lower 
down, supplied water to the barn-yard. It was explained that the milk- 
cans were sometimes rinsed at the pump in this yard, from whence came 
the contamination. It was possible that the milk had been watered 
from the same source, yet it could not be proven; but the fact remained 
that many of those who partook of the milk, unboiled, suffered from 
typhoid fever, and others did not. It is noticeable that in communities 
where drouth prevails, and water of any kind is difficult to obtain, com- 
pelling the use of that which would ordinarily be rejected, typhoid 
fever is very liable to appear. This disease is regarded as one of the "filth 
diseases" — therefore, it should not occur at all; if there were proper in- 
spection by health officers wherever a case is known to exist, a second 
case could not follow. 

Treatment. — All garments worn by the patient, as well as the 



176 DIET FOR TYPHOID PATIENTS. 

sheets and pillow cases, ought to be placed in a disinfecting solution 
(see Appendix). The discharges from the patient should also be disin- 
fected before they are carried out of the room, and cloths used as 
handkerchiefs ought to be burned The dry, hot skin is cooled by a 
bath containing vinegar sufficient to make it taste sour: the water may 
be tepid or cool, and the bath may be repeated every six hours 
to advantage when the fever is high. At least twice in the 24 
hours the bath ought to contain a small amount of carbolic acid to 
disinfect the patient. Frequent bathing of face, hands and wrists is 
very comforting. Small pieces of ice relieve the thirst, and are less 
likely to disagree with the stomach than water. When there is a desire 
for acid drinks, lemonade, cider, or the phosphates may be given freely. 
Pure glycerine painted over the lips and tongue soften and moisten 
them when hard and dry. The diet must be such as will sustain the 
strength. Milk and lime-water, when it can be taken, is the best form 
of food; it should be given in small quantity, as often as every three 
hours. It should not be kept in the sick-room, but in a cool place away 
from anything that can impart to it an unpleasant taste or smell. 
Iced buttermilk is sometimes preferred to milk, and is equally as 
nourishing in these cases. Patients who will not take milk must be 
given beef extract or soups. There is danger in solid food, because the 
intestines in the vicinity of the right groin, where the disease is 
seated, are ulcerated, and any irritation at that point may excite 
haemorrhage. 

The medicines of benefit in typhoid fever are few. It is a good 
plan to give a cathartic dose of Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills, at the 
beginning, when the first symptoms of ill-health are observed, provided 
the bowels are constipated. No cathartic should be given except as 
prescribed by a physician, after the disease is fully developed. Physic 
then endangers life, unless carefully guarded by other medicines, such 
as a physician will advise. An emetic to remove imperfectly digested 
material from the stomach was formerly a very popular part of treat- 
ment; undoubtedly, the thorough emptying of the entire intestinal 
canal is an excellent preparation for medicines, and is especially called 
for when the tongue is heavily coated and the breath is foul Inter- 
nally, the best remedy in the earlier stage is prepared by mixing one 
tea-spoonful of a five per cent, solution of carbolic acid (redistilled) in 
half a glass of water, and adding one tea-spoonful essence of winter - 
green. 



TREATMENT OF TYPHOID FEVER. 177 

The dose of the mixture is one tea-spoonful every hour the first 
day, unless it appears to irritate the stomach, when it should be diluted 
with more water, and given once in two hours. As soon as the tongue 
begins to clean and appears moist, quinine, in two or three grain doses, 
may be given every three hours; should the head begin to ache more 
severely after the quinine has been given for several hours, increase the 
intervals between doses to six hours, if necessary. Tenderness of the 
bowels may be treated at first by laying upon the skin a hot flannel cloth, 
moistened with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. A dry and 
dark-colored tongue, dry and burning skin, distended abdomen, tender 
on pressure, indicate ulceration of the bowels. In this condition tur- 
pentine, in ten-drop doses, rubbed up with a little sugar, may be given 
internally once an hour, until the symptoms begin to improve — after 
which the time between doses should be increased. Turpentine 
may at the same time be added to the liniment used on the abdomen. 
Occasionally, gas accumulates in the intestines to an extent which 
threatens to prevent the entrance of air into the lungs, because the 
stomach, liver, and diaphragm are crowded upward into the cavity of 
the chest. An injection should be quickly prepared, as follows: Mix 
one tea-spoonful of spirits of turpentine with the yolk of an egg; thin 
the mixture with sweet milk until it will pass through a syringe ; then 
inject it into the bowels, and keep it there for several minutes. A tea- 
spoonful of chloroform, in a table-spoonful of gum-arabic water or flax- 
seed tea, may be given by mouth. Turpentine injection is the best 
method of checking the hemorrhage from the bowels; and, in case it 
occurs, the patient must be kept very quiet in bed, and a physician be 
summoned. No patient, with severe typhoid fever, should be treated 
without a physician in attendance, where it is possible to procure one. 
Good nursing, perfect cleanliness, ventilation, liquid diet and the sim- 
ple measures we have recommended, will give a patient a better chance 
of recovery than the best of medical advice, without these essentials. 

The period of convalescence has arrived when the fever grows 
milder, the tongue and skin moist, the delirium disappears, and the 
feeling of hunger is experienced. This is a critical time, and many a 
person has been successfully carried through a long and tedious attack 
of typhoid fever to be destroyed at last by a relapse brought on by un- 
suitable food. During the height of the fever there is little danger 
from the food, because the patient can be persuaded to take only a small 
quantity; as recovery begins, however, the exhausted tissues all cry out 



178 



INTERMITTENT FEVEE, OR FEVER AND AGUE. 



at once for supplies, the stomach is weak, a portion of the intestines 
is ulcerated, and digestion goes on very slowly. Nature must be coaxed 
to cany on her work at all. and when over-burdened gives up entirely. 
Continue the milk or liquid diet till the bowels are no longer tender 
on pressure, and return to solid food very slowly. Toast may be given 
first — a small piece only at once. Should this do no harm, more may be 
given next time, and little by little other articles may be added — such 
as fresh beef, scraped, made into balls and lightly broiled, a baked 
apple, the skin and core being rejected; and after sufficient time has 
elapsed to show that these are digested, a baked potato, the skin being 
removed, may be given, and so on day by day — adding something more 
to the list, from which the patient may select what he prefers. A small 
quantity, only the exact amount he may eat, should be set before him, 
until the ravenous hunger has given way to a moderate appetite. The 
meals may be repeated every three or four hours ; but do not trust the 
convalescent from an acute disease to judge how much he ought to eat. 
Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic may be given after the 
tenderness of the bowels disappears, in order to restore their regular 
action and improve the strength. This remedy, taken when the disease 
prevails, is an excellent preventive. All water should be boiled before 
it is drank, until the source from which it comes is proven to be free 
from contamination. 

Intermittent Fever (Fever and Ague).— This fever is 

more prevalent in low, swampy situations, and where the drainage is 
poor. Drinking water containing decaying vegetable or animal matter, 
is occasionally productive of " chill fever." The disease occurs in regu- 
lar periods, with an interval of health between them. From the 
beginning of one of these to the commencement of the next is termed a 
revolution, and comprises a forming, cold, hot and sweating stage, with 
the intermission. There are three principal forms of ague: the quotid- 
ian, where the disease makes a complete revolution in twenty-four 
hours, the fever recurring every day ; the tertian, where the revolution 
extends through forty -eight hours, the fever recurring every other day; 
the quartan, where a revolution takes seventy-two hours. Some 
days previous to the cold stage the patient feels ill, there is loss of appe- 
tite (rarely a ravenous appetite), torpor of the excretory organs, and 
indisposition to take exercise; a desire to yawn and stretch comes on, 
and soon afterward chilly sensations are felt along the back, the head 
aches, and there is great thirst ; the lips and finger-nails turn purple, 



TREATMENT OF INTERMITTENTS. 179 

the face grows pale and pinched, the pulse feeble, the muscles quiver, 
the teeth chatter, and the patient seeks in vain to warm himself at the 
fire or in the sun. The chill lasts from a few minutes to several hours, 
and is followed by fever. When the chill has been long and severe, the 
fever is comparatively slight, but when it has lasted a short time only, 
the fever is long and severe. During the fever the skin and mouth 
are parched and dry, the urine is scanty, and the bowels constipated. 
It is not uncommon, in ague regions, to see the patient delirious during 
this stage, which may last from one to twenty hours. As the sweating 
stage arrives the skin becomes moist, the pulse natural, and during the 
profuse perspiration the heat disappears, and the patient appears to be 
completely restored. 

Treatment, — Very little can be done for it, except in the intermis- 
sion. As soon as this arrives give Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills in cathar- 
tic doses, and as soon as they operate give quinine, in three to five grain 
doses, every three hours until the forming stage again begins. Do not 
give quinine except in the interval ; it is not only useless, but harmful 
given during either stage of the disease. Large doses are unnecessary, 
and sometimes produce a bad effect. During the chill and fever the 
stomach will absorb nothing, and is only irritated by medicines. For the 
thirst, give cold or hot water, as the patient prefers. Tincture of iron is 
almost always needed for a time ; it should be given in five to ten drop 
doses, in alternation with the quinine during the intermission. On the 
first appearance of the forming stage, Happy Home Blood Purifier, 
given every two hours for 12 to 24 hours, will generally prevent 
the development of the disease; and when begun too late for this, 
give it for a month or two after the " chills are broken," to protect the 
system from another attack. Hygienic measures must not be neg- 
lected. 

Malaria. — This name is now applied to certain disorders which 
were formerly called " bilious." There are fashions in medical terms 
as well as in dress, and it is now considered the proper thing to have 
" malaria " rather than " biliousness." The term malaria was originally 
used as the name of the germ, the gas, emanation or what ever it may 
be, which excites in those exposed to it a periodical sickness, such as 
ague, remittent fever, congestive chills, etc. The disorder to which 
the name is now popularly applied resembles ague, except that 
there is no distinct chill and fever. It has the same dullness of mind, 
indigestion, languor, yawning, stretching, foul breath and other evidences 



180 MALARIA CONGESTIVE CHILL. 

of impure blood. The disorder is sometimes called " dumb ague," 
and is caused by retained excretions, by breathing the air of nnventi- 
lated sleeping-rooms, or that which is contaminated by sewer-gas, and 
by a neglect of other hygienic laws. 

Treatment. — The remedy is plain — remove the conditions detri- 
mental to health, and take for a medicine one that unloads the system, 
stimulates the action of the nerves, and sets the internal machinery run- 
ning with renewed vigor. Happy Home Blood Purifier is such a rem- 
edy, and would save every family expensive sickness, were it kept in 
the house and administered as needed. 

Congestive Intermittent (Congestive Chill). -This is a 

species of intermittent fever, which is attended with great danger to 
life. It is thought that not more than one in a hundred will recover, 
without prompt treatment at the start, and some will die in spite of 
everything that can be done. Time is of the utmost value, but skill is 
also needed ; therefore, send for a doctor at once, and while waiting for 
him carry out the measures here recommended. The cold stage begins 
as in ordinary ague, but in an hour or two the great prostration of 
strength and stupidity of mind evinced by the patient will show the 
most inexperienced that it is not an ordinary chill; the pulse will be 
very slow, the skin livid and covered with a cold, clammy perspiration. 
As the disease advances, the patient becomes unconscious ; he lies on 
his back and slips down toward the foot of the bed; breathing is 
difficult, and all the symptoms point to a speedy death. The most 
energetic measures must be tried, and no time must be lost waiting 
upon medicines to act. The first thing to be done is to restore heat 
to the surface. Bathe the skin with hot water, containing mustard or 
cayenne pepper, and rub it briskly. When the attack is very severe. 
add mustard or cayenne pepper to a kettle of water; let it heat until the 
water has extracted the strength; wet a blanket with it, wring out and 
wrap up the patient in it, having first removed the clothing to allow 
the moist blanket to be in direct contact with the skin; then place 
bottles of hot water, hot bricks, or irons, or anything that will retain 
the heat, about the patient — but do not scald him. Should there be 
nausea, with a feeling of weight at the stomach, give an emetic ; ipecac 
or thoroughwort (boneset), with a little mustard or cayenne pepper, 
answers a very good purpose. After the stomach is cleared out, give a 
stimulant. Aromatic spirits of ammonia given in twenty- drop doses, 
well diluted with water, every fifteen minutes, weak pepper tea, or hot 



BEMITTENT, OK BILIOUS FEVER. 181 

ginger tea are among the best that can be selected for this disease. 
Continue the stimulation until it begins to take effect, and then begin 
giving quinine. The measures before described are of the utmost 
importance; but they are merely preparatory for the only medicine that 
is known to have any power to control the disease. Quinine, in ten- 
grain doses, should be given within an hour of the commencement of 
the chill, and repeated every hour until the patient rallies. The dose 
should be larger when the weakness and torpor is extreme; in the 
worst cases one drachm has been given every hour until the chill dis- 
appeared. It is useless to give quinine without the internal stimulant, 
for it will not be absorbed. To prevent a recurrence of the disease, 
after the crisis has passed by, give twenty grains of quinine every six 
hours, and Happy Home Blood Purifier every four hours, arranging 
the doses so that they need not be given at the same hour. Ordinary 
doses of quinine will fail in this dangerous form of intermittent. 
Tincture of iron is called for when the tongue appears of a deep red or 
purplish red color during the intermission. 

Remittent Fever (BiliOUS Fever).— This differs from in- 
termittent fever in having but one perfect revolution — the hot stage 
being greatly prolonged, and varying in intensity at different hours of 
the day. The forming stage usually lasts several days, and the symp- 
toms are similar to those of the same stage of intermittent. 

The cold stage lasts from one to two hours, rarely being protracted 
beyond this time, and is followed by the hot stage ; thus far it is dif- 
ficult to tell whether the fever will prove to be intermittent or remit- 
tent. The hot stage lasts from eight to twenty hours, when the heat 
grows less; there is some sweating about the neck and head, pain in the 
back and head, which has been severe in the preceding stage, grows 
less, and all the symptoms improve. This remission usually occurs in 
the morning, but in some cases there are two and three remissions in the 
twenty- four hours. The length of the remission varies in different 
cases — it may last but an hour or two, or for several hours, forming 
almost a complete intermission; however, the patient does not appear 
to fully recover his health during this period as he does in intermittent 
fever. It is followed by renewal of the fever without a chill, and 
continues on until it has run its course, the fever alternately becoming 
better and worse at regular intervals. The strength fails, and it is not 
uncommon for the fever to run into a typhoid condition. When not ar- 
rested the first week, it ordinarily assumes the form of a continued fever. 



182 SCARLET FEVER, OR SCARLATINA. 

As it sometimes proves fatal, a physician should be summoned early in 
the attack, that he may be able to guard the patient against the com- 
plications which increase the danger. 

Treatment. — In the forming stage give Eilert's Daylight Liver 
Pills, to secure a thorough evacuation of the bowels. When pos- 
sible to do so, free perspiration should be produced by the vapor bath, 
or in any other way that may be convenient. An alkaline bath should 
be taken, to dissolve and wash away the gummy excretions on the skin: 
when the stomach contains fermenting material, and the tongue is 
heavily coated, an emetic is one of the most efficient measures that can be 
employed. After the skin becomes moist and the tongue begins to 
clean, give quinine in two or three grain doses, every hour, until the fever 
begins to rise; then discontinue it until the next remission occurs. 
Never give quinine when the skin is dry and the tongue is heavily 
coated, and you will avoid any injurious effect from its use. During the 
hot stage dilute hydrochloric acid, in doses of ten to twenty drops in 
two or more table-spoonfuls of water, may be given every hour; should 
it give rise to burning in the stomach, give a smaller dose, and mix it 
with more water. Lemonade may be given when desired. Treat the 
patient the same as recommended for typhoid fever when the symptoms 
are similar. During each remission give quinine; it frequently adds 
to its value to combine it with iron, prussiate of iron being a good prep- 
aration. Make a powder containing two or three grains of each for 
one dose. As the patient recovers, Happy Home Blood Purifier should 
be used to hasten complete recovery. During the entire course of the 
illness the patient must be carefully fed — there is almost always com- 
plete loss of appetite and often loathing of food; in these cases the 
liquid foods should be given with the same regularity as medicine, and 
in small quantity at a time. Some preparation of pepsin is often 
needed to aid the stomach, because the gastric juice, in common with 
all the other secretions, is lessened in quantity and perverted in quality. 
During the fever, when the tongue is coated and the breath is foul, 
combine carbolic acid with the diluted hydrochloric — giving one drop of 
the concentrated carbolic acid with ten drops of the dilute hydrochloric 
in half a glass of water, and guard the teeth from the acid. 

Scarlet Fever (Scarlatina). — This is a disease of childhood, 

and few persons take it after the age of twenty. From six to eight 
days elapse after exposure before the disease makes its appearance, and 



TREATMENT OF SCARLET FEVER. 183 

it usually begins with a chill, followed by a fever having the symptoms 
common to all fevers. There is sore throat, and some pain on attempt- 
ing to swallow; in the course of six to twenty- four hours a scarlet rash 
appears upon the face, which spreads over the whole body. In color it 
resembles the redness produced by mustard, and is made up of innu- 
merable small red points surrounded by a rose-colored base. The fever 
continues about as before, from twenty to forty-eight hours after the 
rash comes out. It then abates, and in from three to five days the 
redness disappears, and is followed by the loss of the scarf-skin, which 
peels off in branny scales. We have described the mildest form of the 
disease. In the severer forms the symptoms are similar, but much 
more intense. The sequel of scarlet fever is to be feared quite as much 
as the disease itself, and may be as serious after a mild case as a 
dangerous one; therefore, a physician should be sent for as soon as the 
nature of the case is discovered. 

Treatment. — It is impossible to break up or to cut short this 
disease after it has begun to affect a patient. Give water to drink 
freely; cold water will do no harm. When the throat is inflamed, a 
piece of slippery elm bark added to the water will be agreeable. 
Lemonade is sometimes relished, and may be given alone or with flax- 
seed, to make it more soothing to the throat. Bathe the skin with tepid 
water, and anoint it two or more times during the twenty-four hours 
with carbolized suet. Some physicians recommend a bacon rind, and 
prefer it to any ointment. It quiets restlessness and helps the patient 
to sleep. Mild cases need very little medicine. At the first indication of 
sickness, let the bowels be moved by a dose of Eilert's Daylight Liver 
Pills or castor oil. If the rash comes out freely the case needs nothing 
except watching to prevent a chill, and to keep the patient from eating 
something unfit for the stomach. If the rash comes out slowly or 
imperfectly, this powder will be useful. 

Mix one grain of quinine with half a grain of powdered cayenne 
pepper. Give this for one dose mixed in molasses, or syrup. This may 
be repeated every three hours for a child two years old. Do not give 
any more after the rash is out, unless it disappears too soon, when the 
same medicine may be given to bring it out again. In case the throat 
is very sore, with canker- spots in it, let your druggist prepare this 
prescription: One-half fluid drachm tincture of iron; chlorate pot- 
ash, twenty grains ; simple syrup, or honey, four fluid ounces. Mix and 
give one tea-spoonful every three hours, alternating with the quinine 



184 PREVENTION OF SCARLET FEVER. 

powder advised above. The restlessness, when extreme, may be quieted 
by Dr. Winchell's Teething Syrup. 

Prevention. — The only certain method of preventing an attack of 
scarlet fever at present known is to avoid exposure. When one child 
is attacked by it, other children should be kept away from the sick one. 
If possible send them away from home fur a month or more; unfortu- 
nately, many families can not do this, and then it becomes necessary to 
take other measures. If there be a spare room, remove carpet, curtains, 
all stuffed furniture, and all clothing from the closet, also the feather 
bed. Use a straw or husk bed for contagious diseases; and, after the 
patient needs it no more, burn the straw or husks, and boil the tick 
as well as all quilts, comfortables, blankets, and clothing in the room. 
Let the nurse keep apart from the rest of the family, and take care to 
free herself from infection before going where there are other children, 
by changing all her clothes, and washing her face and hands in water 
containing a disinfectant. The child should remain in the spare room 
until the disease is cured, and the skin has ceased to peel; for the fine, 
bran-like scales shed after scarlet fever will infect others. The dis- 
charges from the nose and mouth should be collected on old cloths or 
soft paper and burned; never save cloths used for this purpose to be 
washed. The vessel should contain a disinfecting fluid, so as to destroy 
at once any germs in the urine, or passages from the bowels; but it will 
not do to trust to this for safety. The vessel should be cleaned out im- 
mediately after it is used, washed with water and rinsed; then more of 
the disinfectant should be poured into it. Never wash it out near a 
well. We have given directions for disinfectants in the Appendix, 
which any one may prepare at a small expense. 

The bedding, sheets and clothing of the child worn during the 
sickness should not be removed from the room until they are thoroughly 
saturated with some disinfectant solution, after which they may then be 
taken away and washed; the boiling will destroy any poison still left in 
them. Never be so cruel as to send the clothing from any kind of an 
infectious sickness to a laundress without telling her of the fact, 
so that she may guard her own children from it. Many a poor, 
hard-working woman has been put to great expense and trouble 
by the inhuman neglect of this precaution on the part of selfish 
patrons. 

As soon as the skin has ceased peeling, bathe the child all over, 
including the hair; anoint the skin with carbolized ointment, dress in 



DISINFECTION AND ISOLATION OF PATIENT. 185 

dean clothes, after which it may mingle with the family. The room 
should be cleansed as described in another chapter. 

What May be Done when there is no Spare Room. — Unfortunately, 
there are many families who have neither a spare room nor friends 
to whom the well children may be sent. The mother, too, must 
be nurse for the sick, and at the same time care for the rest of 
the family. It is possible, even then, to save the other children 
from the disease — sometimes, at least— by taking the following precau- 
tions: If the whole family sleep in one room, all beds and bedding, 
except the one on which the patient lies, must be taken out into the 
open air; it is better to keep them out-doors all the time that the sun is 
shining. The following description of the way such a case was man- 
aged illustrates so well what may be done under unfavorable circum- 
stances that it is introduced here in full : In a large family who occu- 
pied two rooms- one for sleeping, the other for a kitchen and sitting- 
room — a child was found just beginning to show the scarlet-fever 
eruption. It was in winter, therefore impossible to keep the other 
children in the open air, or the sick one in the room without a fire. 
One corner of the common living-room was cleared out, and the child's 
bed placed there. Blankets were tacked up to divide that corner from the 
rest of the room, and all the family except the father and mother were 
instructed to keep as far as possible from the patient. A little space 
was left within the inclosure, to pass around the bed, and one window 
opened into it. A saucer containing chloride of lime was set on the 
floor in one corner, on which a little vinegar was poured twice a day. 
Fresh lime was placed in the saucer every morning. The patient was 
first given an antiseptic bath, and then anointed from head to foot, four 
times a day, with carbolized fresh lard. Pieces of newspaper were used 
to spit on and for wiping the nose, which were burned as soon as used. 
During the night, as well as the day, all passages from the bladder or 
bowels were received in a vessel containing a disinfectant solution. This 
was covered and carried out immediately, the utensil thoroughly 
cleansed and disinfected. When the child's clothing needed changing, 
it was taken off, and thrown into a pail containing disinfectant solution 
before being carried from behind the blanket. The mother had a loose 
wrapper which she put on over her clothes before waiting upon the sick 
one, while bathing it, or whenever she had to do anything at the bed- 
side. This was removed and her hands washed before goiu^ among 
the family. All spoons, tea-cups, glasses, etc., used by the sick child 



186 GENERAL CARE OF SCARLET FEVER PATIENT. 

were placed in a basin of carbolized water, and all remnants of food 
and milk were burned. The other children were given three times 
daily a dose of Happy Home Blood Purifier as a prophylactic, the dose 
being diminished when it increased the action of the bowels too much. 
This was kept up for three weeks. The child was severely ill, but at 
the end of that time the skin was entirely sound; he was bathed in car- 
bolized water, clad in fresh garments, and permitted to mingle with the 
other children. The bed and blankets were taken out and exposed to 
the cold until they could be washed. The straw in the tick was burned; 
the feather pillows soaked for several hours in a disinfectant solution, 
and afterward dried in the open air. This seems to be a very trouble- 
some method, but it had the merit of proving successful, for no more 
of the family were attacked by scarlet fever on that occasion, 

General Care of the Patient. — During the early part of the 
fever, keep the room cool, but uniform from 68° to 70°. As the 
eruption disappears the room should be warmer — from 70° to 75° — 
because a chill at this time is extremely dangerous. It may produce 
congestion of kidneys and dropsy, or pneumonia, or gatherings in the 
head, which destroy the hearing, or any one of those dangerous after- 
results which are to be feared when a child is attacked with scarlet 
fever. 

The diet should be plain and nourishing, and, if the throat be very 
sore, almost wholly liquid. Summon fortitude to resist the pleading 
for candies, nuts, cakes and dainties which are so hard to refuse to the 
survivor of a dangerous sickness, or you may have cause to mourn for 
a life sacrificed to your lack of firmness. Milk, toast, broth, soup, 
broiled scraped beef -steak, baked apples, with skin and core removed, 
should form the larger part of the diet at this time. The room must 
be well ventilated, for the protection of the healthy as well as for the 
benefit of the sick. Rooms kept closed and heated become hot- beds 
of infection. Do not heap clothing upon the sufferer, if hot and 
feverish; throw over him only a sheet or thin blanket. Some people 
insist upon applying hot poultices and covering with several heavy 
blankets when a child is coming down with measles or scarlet fever, 
with the idea of bringing out the rash. This plan will invariably make 
it worse. It is wrong to send children to school until at least six 
weeks have elapsed after the rash began to disappear and all scales 
have fallen. It is unsafe even then, if the throat is sore or there is a 
discharge from the ears. Besides bathing the skin, the hair must be 



GENERAL APPEARANCE OF MEASLES. 187 

thoroughly washed with soap and water and rinsed with disinfectant, 
for it retains the poison longer than the skin. The germs of scarlet 
fever may be carried through the mail. A little girl was very sick with 
it; her mother, sitting at the bedside, was engaged in writing a letter to 
her sister. Having asked the child what message she wished to send 
to her little cousin, she begged to send a kiss. The letter was held to 
her lips for a kiss and duly sent; on its receipt the cousin kissed it, 
and ten days later was attacked by scarlet fever, from which she died. 

Measles. — The time which elapses between exposure to measles 
and the first symptoms of the disease varies from seven to fourteen 
days, and has been known to be nearly three weeks. The patient 
appears at first to have taken a cold in the head; there is sneezing, 
stuffing up of the nose, red and watery eyes, hoarseness and a trouble- 
some, dry cough. Within a few hours there is a chill, followed by a 
fever, attended with a flushed, hot skin and considerable irritability. 
The fever increases from two to four days after the chill, when the 
eruption begins to appear. It resembles mosquito bites, arranged in 
patches of horse-shoe shape, which feel rough after the finger is passed 
over them, and are of a darker color than the scarlet-fever eruption. 
They are seen first on the face, from whence they spread over the neck, 
chest and whole body. The fever grows less as the eruption is devel- 
oped. It requires from 24 to 48 hours for measles to fully come out;; 
the same degree of redness continues one or two days, then slowly de- 
clines and passes away between the sixth and ninth day after the chilL 
While the eruption lasts, the bronchial irritation and cough are worse, 
and frequently there is difficulty in breathing. 

Treatment. — The patient needs to be kept warm while the erup- 
tion is present; but the irritation and heat of the surface may be re- 
lieved by the warm bath, followed by anointing of the skin with oil, 
vaseline, or fresh suet. The intestinal canal should be cleansed by a 
mild cathartic. Castor oil is excellent in this disease. Eilert's Extract 
of Tar and Wild Cherry relieves the bronchial irritation and cough. 
In case the skin becomes of a dusky color and the eruption does not 
" come out," an emetic of ipecac is very successful in hastening its 
appearance. The eruption may develop nicely and suddenly disappear, 
giving rise to fever, stupor and other alarming symptoms. For this 
condition give quinine and powdered cayenne pepper, equal parts in 
capsules, or wafers, in doses suited to the age. For example, a child 
two years old may have one grain of each, repeated every two hour3„ 



] ^ v ROTHELX SMALL-POX. 

until the eruption begins to return, and then once in four hours, until 
it is complete. Malignant measles, needs a physician from the start. 
Carbolized baths and the solution of carbolic acid recommended for 
internal use in small-pox may be given while waiting for the doctor. 
Convalescents must be cautious in using their eyes, which are weak, 
for some time after recovery, as over-use at this time will permanently 
injure them. Complications may be averted by avoidance of colds, 
moderation in diet, and by the use of Happy Home Blcod Purifier until 
every vestige of the disease has disappeared. 

Measles, ordinarily, is regarded as a very simple disease, which 
needs no treatment except herb teas. It is true, that, like all the eruptive 
disorders, it has a definite course to pursue which can not be shortened 
by treatment; but it has one feature that deserves mention. A consti- 
tution that has any natural defect is almost certain to show it when 
attacked by measles, which seems to have a wonderful power of detect- 
ing weak points. While a comparatively harmless disease among 
children, except when it comes as an epidemic in its severe form, among 
adults it is to be greatly dreaded. Those who have weak lungs are 
liable to suffer most, and should avoid exposure when possible to 
do so. 

Rbtheln (German Measles).— The eruption in this disease 
resembles both measles and scarlet fever. It is frequently mistaken 
for one or the other of these diseases, and even for small-pox. The 
eruption is in small red dots, like scarlet fever, arranged in patches 
somewhat like measles, and by some authorities is regarded as a 
mixture of the two, but it does not guard the patient from an attack of 
either. It fades in about four days, and the scarf-skin is shed in fine, 
branny scales similar to dandruff. 

Treatment. — This is not a dangerous complaint, and needs no other 
treatment than protection from chills, and attention to the hygiene of 
the patient. The medicines recommended for the disease which it most 
nearly resembles in a given case will be suitable for rotheln. 

Small-Pox. — The alarm excited by a case of small-pox in a 
community is out of all proportion to its danger or inconvenience. It 
is a highly contagious disorder: therefore, every precaution ought to 
be taken to prevent its spread It has been demonstrated, time and 
again, that it can be completely controlled by disinfection and isolation ; 
hence, there is no good reason for a panic of fear at its approach. It 



THE EFFECT OF VACCINATION. 189 

is not one-half as dangerous as scarlet fever, nor does it destroy half 
as many as diphtheria. This was not formerly the case. Only about 
100 years ago, it was so fatal that 184 out of every 1,000 deaths were 
caused by small-pox, and of those who survived many were blind, 
deaf, crippled, or afflicted with scrofula in consequence of the dreadful 
ravages of the disease. Vaccination has changed the record wonder- 
fully. In countries where it is compulsory only 2 deaths per 1,000 are 
due to small-pox, and the mild form known as varioloid, which some of 
the vaccinated have, leaves behind it none of the deformities or ill- 
health that follow unmodified small- pox. For more than thirty years 
not one of the nurses or servants in the London Small-Pox Hospital has 
had this loathsome malady. They are revaccinated on entering service 
there, and this fully protects them. 

Parents who neglect to have their children vaccinated do them a 
grievous wrong. Just how vaccine matter protects, we do not know — 
it seems to act similarly to yeast in dough. Every house- wife knows 
that a mixture once fermented with yeast can not again be affected by 
the addition of yeast, unless fresh material be also added. It 
has been discovered that yeast seizes upon certain parts of the 
mass, transforming it into alcohol and carbonic acid gas, and 
when this material is all used up there is nothing more for the 
yeast to work upon. There appears to be, originally, some element in 
the human body in which the small-pox germ can develop. When this 
is used up by one attack of small -pox no exposure is dangerous, because 
the germ can find no material to nourish it. Vaccine virus is a small- 
pox germ in a harmless form, which possesses the power of using up 
the material exactly as does the original disease, but not as completely, 
therefore, many persons after being vaccinated are subject to vario- 
loid. Another difference is, that, while one attack of small-pox gener- 
ally protects for a life-time, vaccination appears to lose its protecting 
power after a few years, and re -vaccination is necessary. It is always 
prudent, when exposed to an epidemic of small-pox, to be vaccinated 
again, when two or more years have elapsed since a successful inocu- 
lation. Owing to the fact that blood diseases have been conveyed with 
vaccine virus, and that it is utterly impossible to know when some forms 
of blood disease exist, it is better to employ only animal virus — that is, 
the scab or pus obtained from a healthy calf that has been vaccinated. 
There are at present " vaccine farms " in the vicinity of all our large 
cities, where a regular business is made of preparing material for the 



190 DIRECTIONS FOR VACCINATING. 

market: therefore, it may be purchased of reliable druggists every- 
where with a reasonable degree of certainty that it is what it purports 
to be. As it loses its power within a year, it is necessary that it be 
fresh, and not from old stock. For unprofessional vaccinators it is 
better to buy the ivory points, and proceed after this plan: Select a 
convenient spot on the left arm of the person to be vaccinated, scrape 
the skin with a dull blade or with a needle, or preferably use an ivory 
point for the purpose : the scarf-skin only needs removal. When 
minute red points appear and a watery fluid begins to ooze out, moisten 
the stained end of the ivory point in cold water, and wipe off the virus 
upon the scratched surface. Usually two places, a little distance 
apart, are prepared, one side of the ivory point being wiped off upon 
one, and the other side upon the second spot. A cut which bleeds is 
seldom inoculated, the blood having washed out the virus. Let the 
arm dry before lowering the sleeve, and throw the point already used 
into the lire. Never vaccinate two persons, even in the same family, 
without cleaning the instrument after each operation. At a time 
varying from three or four days to two weeks, the wound will begin to be 
inflamed and swell, and within a week a pearly scab forms, drie3 up and 
falls off, leaving a puckered white scar. This is called a typical scar, and 
we have described the natural course for the vaccine virus to work. If 
the scab be removed before it is ripe, the wound does not progress so 
favorably. There are many modifications of its course, arising from 
an unhealthy condition of the blood and constitutional peculiarities 
that are frequently attributed to impure vaccine matter. Vaccination 
has power to modify an attack of small -pox, even so late as after a 
patient begins to have symptoms of the disease. It will lessen the 
danger and shorten its duration. 

Small-pox has been divided into two forms: the discrete, which is 
mild, the points of eruption being distinct and separate; and the con- 
fluent, in which the points are numerous and run together, making 
large patches of solid scabs in the later stage. The period between 
exposure and the appearance of the symptoms is sometimes from 7 to 16 
days, though it averages about 1 2 day s. There is at first a sensation of 
v.cariness, irregular appetite, and deficient excretion. A distinct chill 
occurs a day or two after, and the patient has soreness of muscles, severe 
pain in the back, heaviness in the head, and some nausea. The chill lasts 
from two to four hours, or longer, during which all the disagreeable 
symptoms are increased. As the chill passes off, the skin becomes hot, 



DIFFICULTY TO DETECT SMALL-POX IN THE FIRST STAGE. 191 

the pulse rapid, the bowels constipated, the urine scanty and high- 
c6lored, with intense pain in the head and back. The fever preceding 
the discrete form is mild, and resembles a common continued fever; 
that preceding the confluent is much more severe, and on the second or 
third day delirium is apt to occur. It is impossible to determine, from 
any symptoms that may be present, whether the case will prove to 
be small-pox, or one of the ordinary fevers for at least 48 hours 
after the chill. When it is known that the patient has been exposed to 
the disease, we may be reasonably certain of its nature; but even then 
we can not be positive that it may not be the beginning of typhoid, 
typhus or spinal meningitis. The eruption first appears about two days 
after the chill, in the form of minute, red papulae or pimples, at first 
in the throat, then on the face, wrists, chest and where the skin is thin 
and delicate, gradually extending over the entire surface, becoming 
complete about the end of the third or fourth day. The skin feels, 
when the fingers are pressed upon it, as if it contains small, hard lumps 
of the size of a pin-head; and at any time from 12 to 24 hours after the 
eruption comes out, a minute blister forms on the top of each pimple, 
which enlarges to form the small-pox pustule. In the mild form the pus- 
tules are in groups of three to five, and the fever diminishes when they 
are fully formed. In the severe form the pustules run into each other, 
and their appearance is not attended by any improvement in the fever. 
In both forms of the disease the vesicle or blister fills, as it increases, 
with a clear whey-colored fluid, and is bound down in the center, like a 
dimple. There are many cases of small-pox in which the best authori- 
ties are unable to distinguish it from other skin eruptions until this 
" dimpled vesicle " is formed. Doctors are often blamed without rea- 
son for failing to detect the true nature of the disease previous to this 
time; but experts, even, have been deceived, because small-pox, like all 
other diseases, varies in form, according to the constitutional peculiari- 
ties of the patient. The reader may think our description of disease 
too indefinite, because the words "about" and "or," etc., are so fre- 
quently employed. Those who have seen much sickness know that it- 
is impossible to give a description that will fit all cases suffering from 
the same disorder. Only general symptoms are common to all cases; 
and it is one of the difficulties of medical practice to determine what 
the disease is, in order to prescribe correctly. From the fifth to the 
eighth day the pustule maturates, the surface becomes rough and yel- 
low, the cuticle gives way, letting the contents ooze out, which, drying, 



192 



TREATMENT OF SMALL-POX. 



forms the scabs. On the eighth day of the eruption, or the eleventh 
from the chill, secondary fever ensues. In mild cases this does not 
run long; but in the severe ones it lasts several days, and is accompanied 
by delirium. At this time there is danger from complications of brain, 
lungs or other parts, which prolong the disease and make it more dan- 
gerous. As the secondary fever begins to decline, in cases that recover, 
the excretions from skin and kidneys increase, the swelling goes down, 
and about the fourteenth day the scabs begin to fall off. They are not 
all removed for two or three weeks. Pitting follows only when there 
has been ulceration of the true skin ; in all cases the spots left after the 
scabs fall gradually fade away. 

This disease has a certain course to run, and can be shortened only 
by vaccinating in cases who have not previously been inoculated, and 
in these it runs a more tedious course than simple varioloid.. The 
most important part of treatment is to keep the skin cool, provide free 
ventilation, and see that the patient has nourishing liquid food. 
Patients in tents in the open air progress more favorably than in the 
best of houses, simply because the poisonous vapors given off from 
their bodies are not shut up with them to re- infect them through their 
lungs. There is no danger whatever of taking cold until convalescence 
begins. Hot sweats taken at the beginning make the eruption worse, 
and increase the pitting of the face. 

Treatment. — Whenever any group of symptoms, like those which 
usher in small-pox, are observed, it is always good practice to give a 
cathartic dose of Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills and an alkaline bath, at 
the same time dressing the patient in clean garments. Beside these, 
very little can be done for the backache and other distressing pains 
which precede the appearance of the eruption. Do not be persuaded 
to give hot teas of any kind to bring it out. When the disease is 
known to be small-pox, it is a good plan to let the patient drink freely 
of a cold tea made by steeping a drachm of crushed black cohosh root 
in one pint of hot water for half an hour. Another medicine which has 
a powerful effect in preventing blood poisoning is carbolic acid. It 
may be given in cold spearmint tea when the taste is objected to. One 
fluid drachm of the concentrated acid may be dissolved in one pint of 
spearmint tea and given in table-spoonful doses every hour in bad 
cases, and every two hours in mild ones. The mixture should be 
shaken each time, before measuring out the dose. The skin may be 
bathed frequently with tepid carbolized water; it allays the heat, and 



GENERAL CAKE OF PATIENT AND NURSE. 193 

gives considerable comfort. After each bath, anoint with a very little 
carbolated cosmoline, to keep the skin soft. All discharges from the 
patient should be disinfected and destroyed. Sponges or cloths em- 
ployed in bathing the skin after matter begins to escape from the 
pustules should be burned after once using. Iodoform, dusted over 
the surface after bath, destroys the foul smell, and lessens, when it 
does not entirely prevent, pitting. At the time the pustules are filling, 
and while the scabs are forming, nourishment must be given with 
unfailing regularity. Milk, soups, broths, raw eggs beaten up and 
given in milk, are the main articles of diet. None of these should be 
kept in the patient's room, as they absorb the poison and quickly 
become unfit to eat. Lung complications attended by cough and irrita- 
tion of the throat are relieved by Eilert's Extract of Tar and Wild 
Cherry. The pain and restlessness of young children may be alleviated 
by Dr. Winchell's Teething Syrup. Great prostration, dusky skin and 
delirium call for stimulants, of which aromatic spirits of ammonia, and 
quinine with pepper are the most efficient. Give the former in doses 
of thirty to fifty drops, largely diluted with water, and the latter in 
from three to ten grain doses, repeated every two, three or four hours, 
according to the urgency of the symptoms. As convalescence begins, 
let the patient take Happy Home Blood Purifier, and give a plain, 
nutritious diet until recovery is complete. After the scabs have all 
fallen off, the patient should bathe the entire body and hair in carbol- 
ized water; clean the finger-nails, and brush them thoroughly with a 
carbolized lotion; then, wrapping a clean sheet about the person, step 
into another room, and dress in freshly washed garments that have not 
been in the sick-room — after which he may safely mingle with his 
family. At the beginning of the disease, the carpet, curtains, feather 
bed, and all clothing, except that needed for the patient, should be 
removed from the room. After recovery the room should be thor- 
oughly disinfected, according to the directions we have given else- 
where. Newspapers and books left in the room also need disinfection. 
No letters ought to be written from the sick-room, and no family in 
which some one is sick with infectious disease ought to take books from 
a public library. 

Care of the Nurse. — It is both customary and desirable that 
patient and nurse be separated from every one who may be infected; 
but it is at a great sacrifice that any one undertakes the charge of such 
a patient. Whenever possible, it is better to remove the sufferer to a 



194 



CHICKEN-POX ERYSIPELAS. 



hospital, where everything is arranged for the comfort of such cases. 
When obliged to remain in a private house, the friends and neighbors 
should furnish generous supplies of food ; it is not sufficient that the mate- 
rial for cooking meals be furnished. During the worst stage the smell 
of the disease permeates everything, so as to destroy the appetite of the 
attendant for the food cooked in the house ; it is unsafe to expose one's 
self to contagious diseases when the stomach is empty, therefore, the 
welfare of the nurse demands the assistance of those outside the house 
in the preparation of meals. It is not necessary to run any risk of 
exposure in doing this ; they may be left at some convenient point, in 
the open air, from whence the nurse can take them whenever conve- 
nient to do so. Happy Home Blood Purifier, in small doses, is an aid 
in keeping the system in good order and warding off disease. 

Malignant Small-Pox — formerly known as black small-pox — 
is nearly always fatal. The eruption is of dark color, or black from the 
first; there is a brown tongue and all the symptoms observed in fatal 
cases of typhoid fever. Liberal use of disinfectants and quinine offer 
the only chance of recovery. In these cases, good nursing is about all 
that can be done for the patients; but do not give them up without a 
determined effort to save them. It sometimes succeeds. 

Chicken-Pox. — The eruption of chicken-pox appears as vesicles 
about the size of peas, filled with a fluid which is at first white, but 
later becomes straw-colored; from the third to the fifth day after their 
appearance they burst, forming a small puckered scab, which has 
caused the disease to be mistaken for small-pox. It is sometimes pre- 
ceded by fever, and occasionally an epidemic of it has prevailed, in 
which the patients were very sick for several days; it is generally very 
mild, and requires little treatment except rest, a plain diet and other 
hygienic regulations. Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic 
is needed in these attacks. 

Erysipelas is a disease of the blood that is now believed to be 
due to some germ which exists only in decaying organic matter, hence 
this is included in the list of "filth diseases." Impure drinking water, 
unhealthy meat or milk, are probably the sources from whence human 
beings are infected. It is usually preceded by a chill and a feverish 
condition, which may be very severe, or so slight as to be scarcely 
noticed. A red spot appears upon the skin at some point, which 
increases in size, and in a few hours becomes swollen, hot and painful. 



TREATMENT OF ERYSIPELAS. 195 

Its most common situation is on the face, and it spreads, when unchecked, 
over both face and scalp, the features becoming swollen out of all 
resemblance to a human being. There is less danger when it begins on 
the limbs. One variety attacks open wounds, which is regarded as a 
very serious complication. Another form has received the name of 
black erysipelas ; it occurs in persons of broken down constitutions, or 
where the health has been lowered by previous disease. It begins 
with severe chill and fever, accompanied by rapid swelling of the part af- 
fected. This swelling in a short time presents a dusky-red hue and soon 
becomes almost black, terminating in gangrene (mortification). The fever 
is like low typhoid ; there is a muttering delirium, dark brown tongue, 
and diarrhoea. The patient is rapidly exhausted, and the disease nearly 
always proves fatal. 

Treatment. — Erysipelas sometimes appears as an epidemic, when it 
takes on a very severe form. No time should be lost, when a first case 
occurs, in seeking its origin ; and while doing this, abstain from drink- 
ing any water from the source which supplied the patient, until it has 
been boiled; look carefully after the food and ventilation. The room 
and all clothing used about the patient should be disinfected, the same 
as in scarlet fever. People who do not understand the necessity of such 
precautions consider them too much trouble, as well as useless. There 
is nothing which friends can do that ought to be regarded as trouble 
when human health and life is at stake. It is far better to take un- 
necessary trouble, when that is in the direction of cleanliness and safety, 
than too little, and have to endure a life-time of regret when too late 
to rectify one's negligence. At the beginning, commence giving tincture 
of iron, in ten-drop doses, in half a glass of water, repeated every three 
hours so long as the disease continues, taking care to guard the teeth 
from injury. Give a cathartic dose of Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills on 
the appearance of the chill, and if it operates freely, do not repeat it. 
The best internal remedy, next to the tincture of iron, is prepared as 
follows: Mix together one fluid drachm of concentrated, refined car- 
bolic acid, 90 per cent. ; one fluid ounce of wintergreen essence, and 
three fluid ounces of simple syrup. Dose, one tea-spoonful, repeated 
every hour, except when the dose of tincture of iron is due, until 
the disease begins to improve ; afterward, give once every three 
hours in alternation with the iron. The best local application to 
check the swelling is a poultice of cranberries. The ripe berries 
should be inclosed in a soft, clean linen cloth, laid upon a bread 



196 CRANBERRIES FOE ERYSIPELAS DIPHTHERIA. 

board and pounded until all the berries are mashed — the cloth 
will be saturated with juice ; fasten the cloth to retain the mashed 
berries, and lay it upon the inflamed spot. Change this for a fresh 
poultice every six hours; bum the one taken off, immediately, cloth 
and all. Never throw it out for chickens to eat the remnants of the 
berries. After several applications, the patient will complain that the 
skin smarts. It may then be bathed with carbolized water, at a tem- 
perature most agreeable to the patient, and anointed with Uncle Sam's 
Liniment. Should the swelling begin to increase, apply a fresh cran- 
berry poultice immediately. When the skin blisters, buttermilk will 
allay the irritation; apply on linen and change the cloth every half 
hour, or oftener, if it becomes hot. Carbolized cosmoline sometimes 
relieves the smarting when nothing else does. Cranberries can not 
always be had, and the best substitute is tincture of iron diluted one-half 
with soft water. Paint the inflamed surface with it, using a roll of 
soft cotton for a brush. Do not touch any blistered spot with it. If 
it produces too much irritation, add more water. The patient needs to 
be well nourished ; milk, buttermilk, soups and eggs are the principal 
articles that can be taken. They should be given as often as every 
four hours. As the inflammation subsides, a fever may linger. A 
physician is needed for this disease, because it can never be predicted 
in advance how it will terminate. 

The best application for erysipelas in an open wound is iodoform, 
sprinkled on dry. It removes the burning pain like magic, and restores 
the wound to a healthy condition. 

Diphtheria. — This disease is accompanied by an inflamma- 
tion of the throat, in which a grayish coating, called a false membrane, 
resembling canker, forms. At first the lining of the throat looks dark 
colored, bluish rather than red (it may be purple), and quickly becomes 
swollen; after this the false membrane appears. This disease, while 
it occasionally attacks adults, is most common among children. It is 
contagious, and when a case occurs in a family the patient should be 
separated from every one except the nurse. The same precautions 
should be observed as recommended for scarlet fever. It is not usual 
to take as strict care to avoid giving it to others as in the last-named 
disease, but is is equally important. 

The symptoms of diphtheria begin very gradually, with feelings of 
depression, weakness of muscles, headache, slight fever and sickness 
of the stomach ; the tongue usually is covered with a thick dirty- white 



DESCRIPTION OF DIPHTHERIA. 197 

fur (there are some exceptions to this); there is pain on attempting 
to swallow, and a very disagreeable odor to the breath. The tonsils be- 
come swollen, and the glands about the angles of the jaw become tender. 
These symptoms may be so slight as to attract no attention; and this is 
likely to be the case when the disease is not prevailing as an epidemic, 
and consequently is unexpected. We have seen cases among children 
where the little patient made no complaint, and merely appeared to be 
dumpish and not seriously ailing until, on attempting to swallow liquid 
food or water, it would choke and throw some of it out through the nose. 
An examination showed a dangerous condition of the throat, and death 
followed in two or three days. The system seemed to have been com- 
pletely prostrated by the poison, and the nerves were incapable of 
giving the usual warning of the peril. 

The false membrane in bad cases increases in thickness as the 
disease spreads; and, although at first it is of a white or gray color, 
it soon becomes brown or almost black and of an offensive odor. The 
tonsils are sometimes eaten away, and the disease spreads into the nose. 
Death is occasionally caused by haemorrhage from a blood vessel that 
has been destroyed — sometimes by paralysis of the muscles that con- 
trol the heart and lungs, but more frequently by the filling up of the 
air passages by the false membrane, which smothers the patient. 

There is almost always a low and dangerous form of fever, with 
rapid loss of strength. The patient is restless, can not bear to be cov- 
ered, wants fresh air, and sometimes gets out of bed alone and wanders 
around the room, when permitted to do so, only a few moments before 
death. The time between exposure and the first appearance of the 
throat symptoms may be two to five days — sometimes a day or two 
longer. The duration of the disease, in favorable cases, is from ten to 
fifteen days ; in about seven days the patient either dies or shows signs of 
recovery. The severe form here described is known as malignant diph- 
theria, and ends fatally in the majority of cases. The simple variety is 
attended by little fever and soreness of throat, and has no severe symp- 
toms. One peculiarity of the disease ought to be universally known; 
and that is, that the mild form is liable to set up the malignant variety 
in another individual. This is more likely to be the case when the mild 
form of the complaint appears in an adult, and a child is the one 
exposed. Although ordinary sore throat, the resiilt of a cold, is an 
entirely distinct disease, and can not produce diphtheria nor reproduce 
itself in any one exposed to it, yet the mild variety of diphtheria is not 



198 MILD DIPHTHERIA SOMETIMES FATAL. 

always recognized as such. For this reason, as well as many others that 
might be mentioned, the custom of allowing every one to kiss children 
should be abolished. One family, at least, within the writer's acquaint- 
ance has reason to indorse this opinion. A young lady visitor casually 
remarked, at the breakfast table one morning, that her throat was 
sore, and she must eat soft food that day. The family con- 
sisted of father, mother and three little ones, who were especial 
pets of the young lady. The mother exclaimed, in alarm, "I sin- 
cerely hope you have not brought diphtheria to us! " The visitor 
had recently spent several weeks in the family of a sister, among whose 
children there had been some sore throat during her visit. They had 
not been ill enough to necessitate calling in a doctor; simple remedies 
had relieved them, and no one thought of their disease being diph- 
theria. She replied that there was no reason to suppose it was of that 
nature, and nothing more was thought of it. In a day or two her 
throat improved, and was not again mentioned. A week later the three 
little ones of her host sickened with malignant diphtheria, and within a 
fortnight three little mounds in the cemetery and the loving memory 
of the lost ones were all that remained to the heart-broken parents. 
Undoubtedly, the disease was given to them by the guest, who little 
suspected what misfortune she was bringing with her. 

Mild forms of diphtheria are not always free from danger. In no 
form of it can safety be assured with improvement in the throat symp- 
toms. What the doctors call the " sequelae " — meaning disorders which 
follow a disease and in consequence of it — are quite as much to be 
feared as the original complaint. These may appear at any time after 
recovery apparently begins. In the case of diphtheria, it seems to be 
due to a failure of the excretory organs to perfectly clear the poison 
out of the blood. Any important organ of the body may be the one to 
be disabled, but the most frequent sequel is paralysis. 

A boy, seven or eight years old, the son of a physician, had a mild 
attack of diphtheria, for which he had timely and successful treatment. 
Ten days after the throat was healed, when he appeared to be free 
from the disease. Although still confined to the house lest he should 
take cold, as the weather was damp and chilly, he was again taken sick, at 
first with intense pain in the stomach, which soon passed off, leaving him 
perfectly easy,- although he could eat no food; everything he swallowed 
was thrown up after an hour or two. The father made every effort to 
save him, called in the 'best advice to be had, but all to no purpose. 



TREATMENT OF DIPHTHEFJA. 199 

A dark spot appeared on the skin above the place where the pain had 
been located; this spread, and when it reached the vitals, the boy died. 
An examination after death showed that the upper portion of the intes- 
tines had been completely paralyzed for nearly a week previous. It is 
probable that the immediate cause of the trouble was eating indigesti- 
ble food. He had been allowed to take what he pleased, and as often 
as he wanted to eat; neither was he restricted in quantity, it not having 
been thought necessary, owing to the mild form of his sickness. There 
is a condition which sometimes follows closely after measles and scarlet 
fever, strongly resembling diphtheria, but as there is some doubt 
whether it is properly classed with this disease, it is called croupous 
diphtheria ; it is very fatal. 

Treatment. — The necessity of guarding the unexposed from con- 
tagion is apparent, and, as before stated, should be managed as in 
scarlet fever. Cleanliness, ventilation and disinfectants are to be con- 
sidered as an important part of the treatment, but even more important 
than these is the nourishment of the patient; the strength must be sup- 
ported by tonics and food. Milk is the best food ; it may be taken 
either hot or ice cold, in small quantities at once, a common gobletfull 
being enough; add a table-spoonful of lime water or prepared pepsin or 
pancreatin when the milk alone does not agree. Beef tea, soups, custards, 
made creams and other kinds of soft food can be swallowed easier than 
solid. Whatever is given ought never to be kept between meals in the 
room where the patient lies. Almost everything given as food or drink 
will absorb the poison which is passing off from the patient's lungs 
and skin. We would advise. the reader never to undertake the man- 
agement of diphtheria without a physician's counsel. The medicines 
ordinarily given are chlorate of potash, tincture of iron and 
quinine. Treatment should be begun with a cathartic dose of Eilert's 
Daylight Liver Pills. As the iron is very constipating, these pills should 
be given every second day, unless the bowels move without them. Ask 
your druggist to prepare this mixture: Tincture of iron, one fluid 
drachm; chlorate of potash, one drachm; water, four fluid ounces; 
honey to sweeten. Loaf sugar may be substituted for honey when it 
can not be obtained. The dose for a child two or three years old is one 
tea-spoonful every two, three or four hours, according to the severity of 
the case. 

This remedy should be continued until the throat is clean. Other 
medicines recommended by physicians, and frequently used in this 



200 WATER- CURE TREATMENT OCCASIONALLY SUCCESSFUL. 

disease, are these: Sulphur, a small pinch, placed in a pipe, a glass 
tube or a quill and blown into the back part of the throat three or four 
times a day. Permanganate of potash dissolved in soft water, of a 
strength which gives the water a dark pink or violet color, may be used 
to swab out the throat every two hours, in bad cases. Fasten to a pencil 
or small stick a roll of lint or old linen, raveled out at the edge to make 
it soft: dip this in the solution and use for swabbing the throat. This 
operation should be conducted with gentleness, for the membrane should 
not be rubbed off the throat; it will grow again, when irritated, and 
often worse than at first. One of the best washes for a diphtheritic 
throat is pure undiluted alcohol. Only enough to use once should be 
poured into a cup at a time, and the swab should be burned after once 
using. Wash the cup before a second application is needed. Signs of 
failing strength, shown by dullness, blue lips and livid countenance, call 
for a stimulant. One of the best is a powder containing from two to 
ten grains of quinine and one to five grains of cayenne pepper. It 
may be given in thick syrup, and this dose should be repeated every two 
or three hours. The size of dose depends upon the age of the patient 
and severity of the disease, and requires good judgment to determine 
which is better in a given case. Do not be discouraged and give up all 
efforts to save a little patient who seems to be swiftly drifting into a 
hopeless condition. Occasionally, by persevering effort, a case has 
been saved after having been pronounced incurable by excellent medi- 
cal authority. We can never tell, w r hen a child is the patient, just how 
much vitality it possesses, and some remarkable recoveries have been 
known in this class of cases. Within our experience a little one, two 
and a half years old, was given up to die. A good old lady, who was 
a sincere believer in the " water-cure system," obtained permission to 
try her treatment. She wrapped the child in a sheet wrung out of 
tepid water, wound a thick woolen blanket around it, and applied pieces 
of folded linen wrung out of ice water about the neck, covering these 
with flannel until heated through, then renewing the cold application. 
She gave bits of ice for the only medicine; the child was very thirsty 
and took the ice eagerly. This plan was kept up for several hours, 
when, improvement being visible, it was taken out of the pack, wiped 
dry, placed between clean sheets; a clean, dry flannel was fastened 
about the neck, and the bits of ice continued until refused. The patient 
recovered. We do not mention this to recommend it as a treatment to be 
trusted at the outset; we would never advise it until other measures fail, 



ACUTE AND CHRONIC BRONCHITIS. 201 

for the same plan has made other patients worse. The following lotion has 
apparently saved a few who were suffering from malignant diphtheria. 
Take two table- spoonfuls of powdered cayenne pepper and a tea- spoon- 
ful of common salt; boil one hour in one pint of vinegar and water 
(equal parts) ; strain and sweeten with honey or loaf-sugar. It may be 
given internally in doses of half a tea-spoonful every half hour; the 
same preparation may be used as a gargle. Do not use it of this 
strength except in the malignant form. 

This remedy is more certain when preceded by an emetic, and it 
must be followed by a cathartic dose of Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills, 
to avoid paralysis or other dangerous sequel. As soon as the throat 
heals, give Happy Home Blood Purifier for a month to remove any 
remnant of the poison from the system. Limit the diet of the patient 
to plain, easily digested food, until all danger has passed of other com- 
plications following the sickness. 

Bronchitis. — Inflammation of the membrane lining the bron- 
chial tubes is called bronchitis; it is the most common of the lung 
diseases, and occurs most frequently in the early spring and late fall, 
when there are sudden changes from warm, or moderately cool, to cold, 
damp weather, accompanied by raw winds. The first symptoms are 
those of a common cold, accompanied with an occasional cough, weari- 
ness and headache. There is some fever, a sense of tightness across 
the chest, hurried breathing with wheezing, and the cough, which at 
first is short, dry and tight, afterwards becomes deeper and looser. 
The substance raised from the throat resembles white of egg; this is 
called mucous expectoration. It becomes thicker after a time and re- 
sembles pus in appearance. 

This disease has two forms — the acute and chronic; the latter is a 
result of the former, and is generally met with among weakly 
persons and old people. The chronic differs from the acute form 
merely in the mildness of its symptoms and its longer duration. One 
attack is often followed by another, but it is not often fatal to vigorous 
middle-aged people; it is a very dangerous disease when it attacks the 
young, the aged, or the feeble. Breathing deeply, or breathing cold 
air, excites violent cough. In severe cases the symptoms are very 
alarming; breathing becomes difficult from clogging of the tubes with 
mucus, which the patient has not the strength to raise, and death results 
from suffocation by the accumulated secretion. In fatal cases the patient 
usually dies between the sixth and tenth days of the attack. The 



202 TREATMENT OF BRONCHITIS PLEURI8Y. 

disease begins to decline, in those who recover, between the fourth and 
eighth day, and soon subsides or passes into the chronic form. 

Treatment. — Bronchitis can frequently be cut short within the first 
twenty-four hours, by taking, at bed-time, a hot foot-bath, a glass or 
two of hot lemonade, and applying a hot mustard poultice to the chest, 
giving, at the same time, Eilert's Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry to 
control the cough. There should be decided relief in a few hours. 
When it does not yield readily, give a good cathartic and continue the 
Tar and Wild Cherry. Inhalation of the steam from hops or water 
containing camphor soothes the air tubes. A collection of phlegm in 
the air tubes, which threatens to smother the patient, can only be re- 
moved by an emetic. Ipecac, thoroughwort, or lobelia should be chosen 
for this purpose. The weakness following these emetics may be re- 
moved by giving ginger or pepper tea. The food which will do most 
service is hot milk: give as hot as can be swallowed and a small amount 
at once. 

Chronic Bronchitis requires the persevering use of the above- 
named cough remedy, together with such general measures as promote 
health. The body should be enveloped in all-wool flannel. When the 
patient is able to be out of bed, shoes, rather than slippers, should be 
worn. The rooms should be well ventilated, and the air ought to be 
kept slightly moist when heat is supplied by a closed stove. Setting a 
basin of water upon it will keep the air from becoming too dry. Some- 
times it is necessary to change the residence for a time before improve- 
ment will progress satisfactorily. 

Pleurisy. — The sac or membrane which incloses the lungs may 
become the seat of inflammation. This is the disease known as pleurisy. 
It is most prevalent in winter, and next to that in autumn. The weak 
and the aged are most liable to it, although it is not confined to these, 
and the usual cause is exposure to cold and wet when over-heated, 
tired or exhausted. It begins with a chill, followed by fever, and ac- 
companied by a sharp, cutting pain, described as a "stitch in the side," 
which is increased by a long breath, by coughing and by pressure. 
There is usually a short, harsh cough, hot, dry skin, and the breathing is 
frequent, short and anxious. In most cases it affects only one side. 
At first the two dry, inflamed membranes rubbing against each other 
produce a " friction sound," which may be heard by placing the ear 
against the painful part of the chest; but as the disease progresses the 
sound ceases. The inflammation either terminates in recovery and the 






DKOPSY OF THE CHEST, AND ITS TREATMENT. 203 

two membranes become naturally moist and smooth, or the inflamed 
surfaces grow together, or they become separated by a collection of 
watery fluid, which forms " dropsy of the chest." 

In the early stage of pleurisy the patient can not lie on the dis- 
eased side on account of the pain; therefore he lies on the healthy 
side, or on the back. After fluid has collected in the sac its weight 
hinders the expansion of the healthy side of the chest, and as the pain 
is by this time nearly gone, he lies on the diseased side or back. The 
quantity of fluid may vary from a few ounces to several pints. When 
the quantity is small, it disappears in a short time; but when large in 
amount, the disease lasts for months, giving rise to difficult breathing. 
It is rarely fatal in the young and vigorous, but in weakly children and 
the aged it may destroy life. 

Treatment. — The first thing to be considered is the means for 
relieving pain and preventing " dropsy of the chest." To accomplish 
this the patient should be kept quiet in . bed, and the bowels moved 
freely with Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills. Hot drinks, which produce 
sweating, should be given, and a large, hot, moist linseed poultice b& 
placed over the affected side. Should the pain be very severe, a tea- 
spoonful of laudanum may be poured on the hot poultice just before it 
is applied. It must be renewed as soon as it is cool. A cough or irri- 
tation of the throat accompanying pleurisy will be controlled by 
Eilert's Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry. When the disease passes on 
to the stage in which the lung sac is filled with fluid, the patient should 
drink as little as possible. The food should be nourishing, but solid, 
like broiled beef -steak, toasted bread, etc. ; at the same time he should 
take cathartic medicine, which, by stimulating the activity of the bow- 
els, removes fluid from the blood. There is a remarkable fact which 
explains this mode of treatment. It is this: The blood needs a certain 
proportion of water to keep it sufficiently thin to pass through the 
capillaries; when there is not an abundant supply taken as drink and 
with the food, and especially when there is an extra amount of water 
removed from the blood under the influence of medicines which in- 
crease the perspiration, the quantity of urine, or the amount of excre- 
tion from the bowels, the blood draws water from the tissues to supply 
the loss. When there is an accumulation in some of the cavities 
of the body it draws upon that first, and this is the reason 
why the treatment we recommend empties the lung sac. DropsicaL 
swellings, wherever they appear, are removed in the same way. An 



204 DIURETIC — PNEUMONIA. 

excellent medicine to increase the action of the kidneys, whenever 
dropsical accumulations are to be removed, is prepared by dissolving 
half a drachm of acetate of potash in half a glass of lemonade and 
take for one dose; this may be repeated three times a day. Prepare 
fresh for each dose. No better constitutional remedy can be found in 
this chronic stage of pleurisy than Happy Home Blood Purifier and 
Health Tonic. Should there be chills and fever accompanying it, or 
should the patient's symptoms be better one day and worse the next, 
quinine, in doses suited to the age and strength, will be needed. The 
size of dose varies from one grain to ten, repeated every three or four 
hours. Both stages of this disease require a doctor's attention, and we 
would not advise an attempt to do without it where it can be pro- 
cured 

Pneumonia. — Inflammation of the lungs is commonly caused 
by a severe cold, which suppresses the perspiration and lessens the 
action of all the excretory organs. It occurs most frequently in the 
winter and spring, attacking persons of all ages and all degrees of 
strength. It is an especially fatal disease among the aged. The cus- 
tom prevailing at funerals of standing with the head bared during the 
services at the grave has cost many valuable lives. In almost every 
instance where an old settler dies in cold weather, and his friends and 
associates are called upon as bearers and to assist at his burial, one or 
more of them takes a cold which proves fatal in a short time ; generally 
in the form of pneumonia. This disease lasts, on the average, about 
ten days, when the patient dies or begins to recover. In fatal cases 
death seldom occurs before the sixth and sometimes not until the 
twentieth day. It may be confined to one lung or affect both at once. 
The right lung suffers twice as often as the left. In about one case 
out of ten both lungs are affected The leading symptoms are fever, 
increased temperature, as marked by the fever thermometer, dull pain 
in the chest (this is not always present), hurried and difficult breathing, 
cough, sometimes delirium, and by the fourth day the matter raised 
from the lungs is tinged with blood, giving it a rust color. The disease 
is usually at its worst stage between the fifth and seventh days. In 
favorable cases the symptoms begin to subside at this time; in unfavor- 
able they grow worse until the patient dies. 

Treatment. — The first day, give a thorough cathartic, like Eilert's 
Daylight Liver Pills, and Eilert's Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry, 
to relieve the breathing and cough. Cover the chest with a hot, 



FORMS OF ASTHMA. 205 

moist linseed poultice, spreading a small quantity of oil or lard over 
it to prevent its drying on the flesh. If this does not give relief after 
two or three applications, a mustard paste may be employed. Do not 
leave it on long enough to blister; twenty minutes is long enough 
when the mustard is of good quality. Do not trust to the feelings of 
the patient, because the senses are somewhat duller than usual, and it 
may blister before there will be any complaint. The most important 
thing to be done is to keep up the strength of the patient by nutritious 
diet. Milk, beef extract prepared so as to contain all the meat, beef 
steak scraped and broiled, soft-boiled eggs, are the principal articles of 
diet that can be given. The intervals between meals should be shorter 
than in health, because only a small amount can be taken at once. The 
air of the sick-room must be kept pure by ventilation; but cold, out- 
door air should not be allowed to blow upon the patient, as it makes the 
cough worse. After removing the poultice, oil the chest, and cover with 
a layer of cotton batting, which should extend over the chest both in 
front and behind, and nearly up to the chin; hold it in place by a 
flannel bandage. Carded wool is better than cotton, when it can be 
obtained. During recovery the patient will need a constitutional rem- 
edy, to purify the blood and to act as a tonic. In rare cases pus forms 
in the chest, making an abscess that gives rise to blood-poisoning; it 
then becomes necessary to open it and wash it out; but, as a phy- 
sician is always required for this operation, it need not be described 
here. 

Asthma is an obstruction of the air passages by contraction of 
the air tubes, which makes the breathing difficult, gives rise to a wheez- 
ing noise, and produces a feeling of tightness across the chest. The 
attack occurs in paroxysms, usually at about three or four o'clock in the 
morning. The patient is suddenly aroused from sleep, gasping for 
breath, and is compelled to sit up to keep from choking. The pulse is 
feeble, the eyes stare, the skin is cold and clammy, and the distress is 
so great it seems as if death is about to occur. These attacks seldom 
prove fatal, and generally pass off in two or three hours. 

There are two forms of asthma — moist and dry — and both are 
often connected with disease of either heart or lungs. When purely 
nervous, the patient is well in the intervals between attacks. Men 
suffer from it more frequently than women, and it is most common 
during middle life. Some medicines will excite a paroxysm of asthma 
in persons who are free from it when not under their influence. 



206 TREATMENT OF ASTHMA CBOUP. . 

Quinine produces this effect occasionally, as does the dust from ipecac 
and several other drugs. 

Treatment. — A peculiarity of this disease is that a remedy which 
benefits one person is likely to have no effect upon another, so far as 
the asthma is concerned. It is important to keep all the organs of the 
body in a healthy condition, and any measures needed for this purpose 
will exert a beneficial effect upon the disease, making it less severe. 
During the paroxysm, great relief is often obtained from one of the 
following measures : 

1. Mix wine of ipecac and tincture of lobelia in equal propor- 
tions, and take half a tea- spoonful every twenty to thirty minutes 
until nausea is felt, and the secretions in the air tubes come up freely. 
This is valuable in some cases, but useless in others. 

2. Saltpetre, half an ounce; anise seed, half an ounce; stramo- 
nium leaves, one ounce; let these all be finely powdered and thoroughly 
mixed. Make a little cone or heap of one thimbleful of this powder; 
set it on fire, and breathe the smoke that arises from it. 

3. Stramonium leaves, dried, and smoked in a clean clay pipe, 
sometimes give immediate relief. 

4. Inhalation of the smoke from blotting paper, or even common 
brown paper, which has been soaked in a saturated solution of salt- 
petre and afterwards dried, often acts like a charm. The saturated 
solution here referred to is made by dissolving all the saltpetre in a 
given amount of water that it will hold. 

There are other remedies which relieve the distressing paroxysms 
of asthma, but they are too powerful to be used except under medical 
advice and with caution. To prevent the return of the paroxysm, 
Eilert's Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry is one of the most useful 
medicines. The general health must be improved by such exercise as 
can be borne; by a plain, nutritious diet that does not overburden the 
stomach nor give rise to a collection of gas in the intestinal canal, 
and by regular habits. Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic 
strengthens the nervous system, and is of most value in the nervous 
variety of asthma. Change of climate alone cures many cases. 

Croup. — There are two kinds of croup, true and false. The latter 
is most frequent, and most alarming at first, although it is not nearly 
as dangerous as the former, for few ever die from it, while nearly one- 
half who are attacked with true croup die. Both forms of the disease 
generally occur in children under six years of age, and in cold, damp, 



EABLY TREATMENT OF CROUP. 



207 



changeable weather. A child goes to bed apparently well, or with 
some cold and cough. Suddenly, in the night, it begins to breathe 
loud, with a hoarse, grating sound, intermingled with wheezing; it ap- 
pears to be in great danger, but there is no fever, and, as soon as 
relieved by the application of necessary remedies, it sleeps quietly, and 
the next morning is playing about as lively as ever. The difficulty of 
breathing never lasts long with proper care — the time varies from a 
few minutes to a few hours. Not so with true croup — it lasts 
from two to five days, is accompanied by high fever and a state of the 
throat resembling diphtheria in appearance. It comes on gradually, 
the child at first seeming to be merely hoarse; he plays as usual, but 
does not seem to feel well; about the middle of the afternoon he grows 
worse and coughs, making a hoarse, barking sound, that once heard 
will not readily be forgotten. At bed- time there is high fever, consid- 
erable distress in breathing, and fretfulness ; in the morning he awakens 
apparently better, and plays during the fore part of the day, but grow- 
ing worse in the afternoon. This goes on much the same way for 
three days, when the child grows rapidly worse; he can not lie down, 
because it is more difficult to breathe in that position; his eyes are 
pressed outward, making them look prominent and staring, and the 
face is a picture of distress; he clutches at his throat as if he feels 
something inside that he wants to draw out ; for a time he cries out in 
a feeble, hoarse voice, but soon ceases to make any sound, seeming to 
discover that efforts to cry increase the distress. He continues to grow 
worse for two or three days, and then, if unrelieved, is strangled by the 
false membrane (which looks like " canker") that fills up the throat. 

Treatment. — In all cases of croup, whether true or false, the first 
thing to be done is to relax the air passages, so that the phlegm accu- 
mulated in them can be raised and gotten rid of. When the attack 
comes on suddenly, in the night, do not wait for the doctor (when one 
is sent for) before doing anything, but proceed to apply heat while 
other remedies are being prepared. Should the fire be out, while wait- 
ing for one to start to warm water, heat a piece of flannel by wrapping 
it around the chimney of the lighted lamp — it can be quickly done — then 
place it on the front of the chest and throat. Heat another piece and 
wrap around the feet. Stove lids wrapped in a newspaper and covered 
with flannel are good to heat the feet. As soon as hot water can be 
made ready, soak the feet in a hot foot-bath, which may be made more 
stimulating by mixing in a spoonful of ground mustard. A mixture of 



208 INSIDIOUS NATUEE OF TRUE CROUP. 

Scotch snuff and lard spread on brown paper and placed on the chest 
is an excellent remedy. Internally, any one of the following medicines 
are good. We mention them in the order of their value: Powdered 
alum, half a tea-spoonful, mixed with syrup and taken every fifteen 
minutes until vomiting occurs; tincture of lobelia, in five-drop doses, 
for a child under six years of age, repeated every ten minutes until the 
breathing is easier; afterward, every half hour, until the patient appears 
to be sick at the stomach, when no more should be given; tincture of 
ipecac given the same way. The same measures may be used for true 
croup, but will not prove so successful. A doctor should always be 
summoned when the symptoms are not relieved within an hour after 
giving the hot foot-bath. Of the above remedies, one only should be 
given, and that the one that can be had the most promptly. As soon 
as nausea is present, remove the snuff plaster, if it has been used, 
and replace by a piece of brown paper covered with fresh lard. The 
brown paper is recommended only because it is always at hand. A 
sheet of wadding, cotton batting or carded wool are even better than 
paper, as the object is to retain the heat. Keep the feet warm, and do 
not arouse the little patient to take medicine while breathing easily. 
The next day keep it out of the cold air, and should the symptoms re- 
appear the next afternoon, with the hoarse cough, lose no time in send- 
ing for a doctor, even though the child should be at play. Some years 
ago a Philadelphia doctor, in riding through a street on the way to see 
a patient, noticed among a group of children at play on the sidewalk one 
with the peculiar cough that is heard only in true croup. He stopped, 
and asking the number where the parents lived, called to inform them 
of the dangerous condition of their child. The mother resented what 
she chose to consider an intrusion, and plainly expressed her opinion 
that the caller was after a fee. The next day the child was worse, and 
three days later crape on the door announced to the passer-by that it 
was dead. This is related to illustrate how unexpectedly this disease 
proves fatal. The early stages offer the best opportunity to save life; 
later, when medicines fail to clear out the air passages, and there is 
danger of strangling, the life is sometimes saved by inserting a silver 
tube in the windpipe, to let the air in and out of the lungs. The best 
that can be said of this proceeding is that it occasionally succeeds, 
when the case must have proven hopeless without it. Physicians, 
knowing what a small chance there is, hesitate to perform this oper- 
ation, because when it is done and the child dies they are liable to be 



THE DANGERS OF WHOOPING COUGH. 209 

■charged with having caused its death — a charge which, under the cir- 
cumstances, is very unjust. To prevent an attack of croup, see that 
children have their feet hot and dry on retiring, after exposure to cold 
and damp ; their beds, when placed in a cold room, should be warmed 
by placing in them hot bricks or anything which will take off the chill. 
Give them Eilert's Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry during the day for 
cough or hoarseness ; and if they are constipated, a dose, at bed-time, of 
the Daylight Liver Pills. 

WllOOping COUgh. — This is a disease of childhood, which 
spreads from the sick to the well who have not already had it once. 
About six days after exposure it begins with a peculiar, hard, spasmodic 
cough, occurring in paroxysms with intervals of rest between them, 
during which the child appears to be well and plays as usual. The 
coughing spells end when the air has been completely driven out of the 
lungs, and the patient seems on the point of being suffocated; at 
this time there is a spasm of the glottis, and the air drawn by force 
past it causes the whooping sound, The disease lasts from three 
weeks to several months. Healthy children suffer least, and when 
the cough begins during the spring or summer months it lasts the 
shorter period named, but, commencing in the fall, it is apt to be 
prolonged by colds until spring. Children having whooping cough 
should be guarded from exposure to cold and damp ; at bed- time their 
feet should be well heated, they should be clad in flannel gowns and 
their bed be made warm, that they may run no risk of being chilled by 
cold sheets. Unhealthy children and young infants suffer the most 
severely from whooping cough. When it comes as an epidemic it is 
usually most dangerous. Bronchitis, pneumonia and other disorders 
of the air passages frequently complicate it. The cough is sometimes 
so hard and protracted that an unusual amount of blood is thrown into 
the head, the eyes become blood-shot, blood gushes from the nose, and 
the phlegm that is raised after the coughing spell may be tinged with 
blood. These cases are dangerous, because a delicate blood vessel 
within the brain may be ruptured, which will produce very serious 
mischief. Two cases that we now remember in which this accident 

occurred, will serve to show the consequences: R. B. was a very 

bright little girl, four years of age, when she had the misfortune to 
take whooping cough early in December. It proved to be very severe, 
and six weeks later, after several attacks of nose-bleed during par- 
oxysms of cough, after an unusually severe spell of coughing she was 



210 TREATMENT OF WHOOPING COUGH. 

seized with what appeared to be a lit of apoplexy. She was uncon- 
scious for a day or two, rallied very slowly, and never quite recovered 
her former brightness. Dating from that time she was afflicted with 
epilepsy, which slowly reduced her to idiocy, in which state she lived 
until her thirty-fifth year, and then died of a fever. 

L. C was a boy six months old, when he began to suffer from 

whooping cough, having a- severe form of the disease. A similar acci- 
dent occurred in his case, but with a different result. Paralysis of one 
side followed the brain injury; in consequence of this the arm and leg 
on that side grew very slowly as compared with the opposite side, 
giving rise to great deformity. 

Treatment. — All measures that keep the general health good 
tend to lessen the severity of whooping cough. Of these, ventilation, 
diet and regular habits of body are the more important. The patient 
is better off out of doors, when the weather is suitable, and no harm 
will come of it in winter time, provided he be warmly clad in flannel 
from head to foot. Cold, raw winds and dampness should be avoided. 
After playing in the snow see that the feet and limbs are dry and 
warm. Plain food, such as meat, potatoes, bread and milk, with fresh 
fruit and baked apples, should make up the diet. A craving for candy 
or cakes should be gratified by giving sugar syrup, maple sugar or 
home-made oandy — the object being to supply wholesome sugar instead 
of greasy sweet compounds, or adulterated candies, which invariably 
disagree with the stomach, and set up irritation that is indirectly the 
means of aggravating the cough. Dry skin, costiveness or scanty 
urine call for a blood remedy like Happy Home Blood Purifier and 
Health Tonic. In a majority of cases the cough will be relieved, or at 
least be made endurable by Eilert's Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry. 
It should be known that whooping cough has a course to run, which 
can not be shortened; it may be made mild and harmless by suitable 
treatment, while neglect and exposure may greatly prolong it. In 
children of feeble constitution, or who are already suffering from some 
other disease, it is a much more serious affair, and a physician should 
be called in. Should there be sour stomach, diarrhoea or sore mouth 
with whooping cough, Dr. Winchell's Teething Syrup will prove a 
better remedy than the Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry. Other 
medicines which sometimes succeed when these fail in relieving the 
cough, are lobelia and ipecac, given as described for croup. Chestnut 
leaves have an excellent reputation in whooping cough, but they some- 



SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF CHKONIO CATAEEH. 211 

times fail. To prepare them place three or four drachms of the leaves 
in an earthen pitcher, which is first warmed; pour over them one pint 
of boiling water, cover closely, and let it stand until cool. Sweeten 
and give during the day as much as the child can be per- 
suaded to take; it should be continued a week or two. Tincture of 
assaf cetida, in doses of five to ten drops for a child two years old, every 
four hours, is a good remedy when the cough is very severe and there 
are symptoms of spasms. It will sometimes prove a valuable addition 
to the Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry. 

Chronic Catarrh. — This is a chronic inflammation of some 
portion of the mucous lining of the cavities of the body, usually located 
in the nasal passages. First attacks are called " cold in the head," 
already described as catarrhal fever. They last but a short time, being 
followed by perfect recovery ; but they recur after slight chills, and 
after awhile are followed by chronic inflammation of the nostrils, which 
thickens the lining membrane and lessens the size of the passages. 
The most troublesome symptom is a profuse discharge, which often 
becomes pus, and is tinged with blood; this lodges in the obstructed 
•passages, and causes hawking, spitting and gagging, sometimes vom- 
iting, before it can be removed. Large flakes of hardened mucus col- 
lect; these decay rapidly, producing an offensive odor, tainting the 
breath, and making the patient an object of disgust to his friends. 
Boring the nose with the fingers to remove these flakes is a most dis- 
gusting habit; when practiced constantly, it enlarges the nostrils and 
alters the shape of the nose. This disease sometimes becomes a serious 
menace to health, making the sufferer miserable, despondent, restless 
at night; and loss of appetite, flesh and strength naturally follow. A 
changeable climate, especially if it be damp, with great variations in 
temperature occurring suddenly, is unfavorable to permanent recovery, 
because the conditions which produced the disease in the first place are 
always present. Catarrh is curable, however, in any climate, provided 
it be treated before the bones of the head become badly diseased or the 
air passages have been so long affected that the germ of consumption 
has invaded them. 

Treatment. — As we have shown elsewhere, the catarrhal discharge 
is an effort of Nature to compensate for inactivity of one or more of 
the excretory organs. The first thing to be done is to restore their 
action, which will be followed by a cure of the catarrh without other 
treatment than cleansing the membrane from which the discharge 



212 CATAERH — CONSUMPTION. 

came, unless it has continued long enough to produce ulceration or 
thickening of this membrane. When this is the case, syringe out the 
nose once a day with the following lotion: Dissolve one tea-spoonful 
of common table salt in one pint of hot water, and add to it one fluid 
drachm of carbolic acid (five per cent, solution; see Appendix). A 
fountain syringe is the most convenient for this purpose, and should be 
hung but very little higher than the head, so that the water will flow 
gently. A strong current of water might force some moisture into the 
Eustachian canal, which should be avoided. When all is ready, press 
the finger on the side of the nose, to close the nostril that is not being 
treated; incline the head over a wash-bowl, and hold the breath while 
the water flows. The first effort is to be directed toward soaking up 
the crusts or flakes, and opening a passage into the throat; when the 
water runs freely into the throat, treat the other nostril in the same 
way. The first treatment may fail to open these passages; but repeated 
trials, day after day, will usually succeed. After this soaking and 
washing, apply a little clean cosmoline, vaseline or camphor ice. Should 
there be reason to suspect ulceration, apply Uncle Sam's Nerve and 
Bone Liniment, on a small roll of old linen, as high up as possible, 
swabbing the nasal passages with it. In those cases where the smell 
is very offensive apply, after the cleansing, an ointment made by 
mixing ten grains of boracic acid in impalpable powder with one tea- 
spoonful of melted mutton suet. Occasionally the ulceration eats 
through the partition between the nostrils, and affects the bones of 
the nose. A physician must be consulted for this condition, which is 
very difficult to cure, and requires skillful attention. The only home 
application that should be made, in addition to the washing out as 
above directed, is mercurial or blue ointment— popularly but incorrectly 
called "anguintum." 

Chronic catarrh needs a constitutional remedy, to restore a uni- 
form action of all the organs, and to improve the circulation. Happy 
Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic does this effectually; but it is 
sometimes necessary to change climate or location before a perfect 
cure is wrought. Damp situations, especially where the soil is 
undrained, make the disease very persistent. 

ConSlimptiOIl.— This is a disease which generally begins in 
the lungs. For some time previous to the appearance of any marked 
symptoms, the excretory organs fail to remove all the wastes; some 
portion of the retained material is carried to the lungs and deposited 



SYMPTOMS OF CONSUMPTION. 213 

there. During this period there is a feeling of languor, with slight 
loss of strength, and indigestion. This is a condition favorable to the 
development of the peculiar bacilli, which are found only in consump- 
tion. These germs may be taken into the lungs directly from the 
breath of a person suffering from it, or indirectly through the stomach 
in milk from cows, or flesh of animals, which have the same disease. 
"When it is fully developed every fluid in the body contains bacilli, and 
is capable, under favorable conditions, of conveying them to other in- 
dividuals. The earliest symptom usually observed is a slight, dry, 
hacking cough, exciting but little or no attention, and is attributed to 
a cold. It comes on early in the morning, and for some time is scarcely 
noticed at other hours of the day. After a while a foamy or glairy 
mucus is expelled from the chest, which increases as the cough grows 
more frequent, becoming thicker, white in color, or slightly tinged with 
blood after a severe coughing spell. The loss of strength and flesh 
goes steadily on; the countenance grows pale and thin, and acquires an 
appearance of delicacy not natural to it; hectic fever and night-sweats 
rapidly exhaust the system, and in the latter stages there is diarrhoea. 
Individuals most in danger of perishing with this disease are those 
who have a narrow chest, those belonging to families who are subject 
to lung disease, and those who live in damp situations. People who 
are compelled to work steadily in any kind of dust, such as stone- 
cutting and scissors-grinding, are liable to a form of consumption, in 
consequence of the air cells becoming filled with gritty or metallic 
particles drawn into them with the breath. 

Spitting of blood or slight haemorrhage, is, in some cases, the first 
sign that excites alarm. It is not present in all cases, and is not now 
regarded as necessarily fatal, or a sign that the patient's condition is 
hopeless — yet it is a serious symptom. As the disease advances the 
breathing and pulse become more hurried; the voice is weak or hoarse, 
and chilliness toward evening, followed by slight fever and perspira- 
tion, marks the beginning of hectic fever, which rapidly exhausts the 
strength. The cheeks, during the fever, have a circular, dark-red patch, 
called the hectic flush, and the palms of the hands and soles of the 
feet are sometimes affected with a burning heat. A deep-seated pain 
is felt in the root of the diseased lung, about three inches below the 
collar-bone, and two or three inches to the right or left of the breast- 
bone. This pain may extend through to the back and down the arm. 
It is increased by coughing, and by breathing cold, damp air. The last 



214 



TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTION". 



stage is marked by swollen feet and ankles, by profuse diarrhoea, and 
by the corpse-like appearance of the face; the cheeks are hollow, the 
cheek-bones prominent, the eyes sunken, the nose sharpened, the hair 
falls out. and loss of flesh increases day by day. Patients differ in 
their ability to eat and digest food: some have little trouble with their 
stomach. In other cases, the disordered stomach has directed attention 
away from the lungs until a late stage in the disease. The mind re- 
mains clear and active to the last; and hopefulness, in spite of every 
discouragement, is a marked feature of the case. It is rare to find a 
person that is actually beyond help from consumption who can be per- 
suaded that this is true. So universal is this trait, one is quite safe in 
believing that a person who is despondent, discouraged and ready to 
give up all hope of recovery is not a genuine consumptive. 

There are other disorders which resemble it in producing loss of 
flesh and strength, hectic fever and night -sweats, yet are not necessarily 
fatal. Sometimes the resemblance is so close it is very difficult to de- 
cide between them; but no other disease has the cheerful hopefulness, 
which is Nature's blessed gift to the victim of this dread disorder. The 
average duration of life after the unmistakable signs of consumption 
appear is about two years. It is known as " quick consumption " when 
it destroys life within a few weeks or months. As all forms are capable 
of implanting the germs in those who breathe the same air with the 
patient, the attendants or nurses should never occupy the same bed, 
not only for their own sakes, but for the benefit of the patient, who will 
rest better alone. Sleeping in the same room should be forbidden, as 
every one takes infectious diseases more easily if exposed while sleep- 
ing. Daily exercise in the open air is necessary, and if any sign= of 
lung disease appear in the attendant, the latter should immediately go 
away. 

If there seems to be a hereditary tendency to consumption among 
the relatives, they should not be permitted to nurse the sick one at all, 
and should take every precaution that hygienic measures furnish 
against infection. 

Treatment. — The most important part of the treatment relates to 
hygiene. It is desirable to change the residence to a climate that is 
either uniformly dry and warm or uniformly dry and cold; but this 
change should be made much earlier than is the usual practice. A 
case is not necessarily hopeless because a change of locality is out of 
the question. Shoidd the ground on which the house stands be damp 



HEMORRHAGE FROM THE LUNGS. 215 

and undrained, a sleeping or invalid room on the second floor, with an 
open grate fire (or stove that may be opened like a grate) will keep 
the air dry and fresh. As long as the health permits, the patient 
should leave this room at least two hours every day, while the windows 
and doors are opened to completely change the air. 

All discharges from the patient, including the matter thrown off 
from the lungs, should be disinfected by one of the disinfectant solu- 
tions described in the Appendix. Two complete sets of garments 
should be provided, one for the day, the other for night wear; im- 
mediately upon removing one set, throw it into a moderately strong 
solution of carbolic acid — about one per cent, is sufficient — and hang it 
out doors to dry ; by this plan the two sets can be safely used a week, 
which is an important item where help is scarce and the family wash- 
ing is large. 

The diet ought to be generous, and such as will tempt the appetite. 
The fat- producers are especially needed; and because cod liver oil is 
one of the most easily digested fats it is extensively used, and with bene- 
fit, in consumption. Cream, butter and buttermilk are excellent for 
persons who are losing flesh, and as much fat should be taken as the 
stomach will bear. 

Flannel next the skin protects the surface from sudden chilling. 
One of the best medicines to control the cough, relieve the soreness of 
the lungs, and delay the progress of the disease, is Eilert's Extract of 
Tar and Wild Cherry. The night-sweats are relieved by cold sage tea 
(see Appendix for mode of preparing) ; the dose is one wine-glassful, to 
which is added fifteen drops of aromatic sulphuric acid, to be taken 
every three or four hours. Bleeding from the lungs always alarms the 
patient exceedingly, and this emotion increases the trouble; therefore it 
is necessary to secure perfect quiet, to keep him in a horizontal position, 
and to forbid any attempt to talk, even in whispers, until the crisis is 
past. Let the room be cool, and forbid anything which can excite the 
nerves. Fluid extract of ergot is the best remedy to control the 
haemorrhage and prevent another attack, but it should be administered 
by a physician; for, unless the medicine be of good quality and the dose 
be adapted to the patient, it is useless. The diarrhoea of the later 
stages may be controlled for a time with compound syrup of rhubarb 
(see Appendix) ; after this ceases to produce its accustomed effect the 
addition to it of laudanum or other opiates will renew its power. 

Out-door exercise should be taken regularly and for as long a time 



216 EFFECT OF OPEN AIR EXERCISE ON CONSUMPTIVES. 

as possible without exhausting the patient, and there is no better form 
of exercise for consumptives than that of digging in the earth. 
Raising flowers or vegetables, when the patient can have assistance in 
the hardest part of the work, is preferable to digging in the earth 
merely for exercise. A delicate, weakly young man was advised to dig 
a well for the benefit of his lungs. He began the well, working several 
hours a day at it, and as it grew deeper he brought up the earth by 
hand to the top, unaided. In the course of three months he not only 
had a mammoth well, but, what is more to the purpose, a chest capacity 
several inches greater than when he began, and a sound pair of lungs. 
We once knew a lady who had become reduced so low by disease of 
the lungs, apparently consumption, that she had been confined to her 
room for three months ; her friends had given up all expectation of her 
recovery. One warm spring day a tramp came to the door begging, 
and while eating the lunch given him heard the lady cough. His meal 
ended, he proposed to cure the patient in return for his kind treat- 
ment. Curiosity led the family to make some inquiries, but he refused 
all explanation except that they must lay a piece of carpet on the 
grass, and over it a woolen blanket; this done, he persuaded them to 
carry the patient out and place her on this blanket; then, calling for an 
old knife, he showed her how to dig up the turf and earth near her. As 
soon as she began to feel tired she was assisted to her room, and 
ordered to repeat the exercise every pleasant day for one month, when 
he assured her she would be well. The very oddity of the prescription 
caused it to be faithfully tried; she began to improve immediately, and 
although the end of the month did not find her cured, she was greatly 
improved, and had learned anew the fact that sun and air and exercise 
are most potent remedies. She afterward recovered, and is still alive. 

Diet of Consumptives. — The strength of the patient needs to be 
carefully preserved, and no better mode of doing this can be found 
than in careful selection of diet. Food should be taken not less than 
six times in twenty-four hours; three full meals at intervals of six hours, 
with light lunches between. No more food should be taken at one 
time than can be digested easily and fully before the next meal, and it 
should never be taken when the patient is suffering from bodily fatigue, 
mental worry, or nervous excitement. Half an hour's rest while lying 
down will often prove of more value as an aid to digestion than medi- 
cine. It is better to eat but a single article at a time, as a varied diet 
prolongs digestion, and makes it more difficult. A due proportion of 



MODEL DIET FOR "WASTING DISEASES." * 217 

different kinds may be taken by eating fats and starchy food at one 
meal, albumen at another, and so on through the list, thus avoiding 
sameness, and tempting the appetite by frequent change. Solid food 
ought to form the larger share of the diet, so long as it can be digested. 
When the pressure of food in the stomach excites cough, or when 
paroxysms of coughing have induced vomiting, Eilert's Extract of Tar 
and Wild Cherry should be given to allay the cough. 

Model Diet List. — The following bill of fare from which to select 
a diet is a useful one for all wasting diseases, as well as consumption: 

1. On waking, one-half pint equal parts hot milk and Vichy 
water, taken at intervals through half an hour. 

2. 8 a. m. Oatmeal with abundance of cream, little sugar; rare 
steak or loin chops with fat; cream potatoes; soft boiled eggs; cream 
toast; small cup of coffee; one or two glasses of milk. 

3. 9 a. m. Half ounce cod-liver oil, or one ounce peptonized 
cod-liver oil and milk. 

4. 10 a. m. Half pint raw meat soup ; thin slice stale bread. 
11 to 12 a. m. Sleep. 

5. 12:30 p. m. Some whitefish ; very little rice; broiled or 
stewed chicken ; cauliflower ; stale bread and plenty of butter; baked 
apples and cream ; milk or kumiss, one or two glasses. 

6. 2 p. m. Half ounce cod-liver oil, or one ounce peptonized 
cod-liver oil and milk. 

5 :30 to 6 p. m. Rest or sleep. 

7. 6 p. m. Some thick meat or fish soup; rare roast beef or 
mutton; spinach; slice of stale bread; custard pudding; ice cream. 

8. 8 p. m. Half ounce cod- liver oil, or one ounce peptonized 
cod- liver oil and milk. 

9. 9 to 10 p. m. Pint iced milk; cup meat soup. 
10. 1 to 2 a. m. Glass milk, if awake. 

To make the meat soup above referred to, add five drops of hydro- 
chloric acid to one pint of filtered water in an earthen pitcher or jar ; 
chop one pound of raw lean beef very fine and soak it in this liquid 
for an hour or two, then strain through cheese-cloth, pressing out the 
juice. 

Mumps. — The largest of the salivary glands (the parotids), which 
lie under the ears and near the angles of the under jaw, once in a life- 
time are liable to be affected with an acute inflammation called the 
mumps. It begins with slight feverish symptoms and swelling about 



218 * QUINSY DYSPEPSIA. 

the angle of the jaw ; the parts around become hot, painful and ten- 
der to the touch. Chewing, swallowing and talking all excite pain in 
the inflamed gland. The disease reaches its height in four days, then 
gradually disappears. Mumps is usually a mild affection, unless the 
patient takes cold, therefore little need be done for it except to avoid 
exposure that may invite a chill. At its first appearance the aliment- 
ary canal should be cleared out by a cathartic dose of Eilert's Day- 
light Liver Pills. The only local application of any benefit is Uncle 
Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. After bathing the swollen parts 
with it, apply dry, hot flannel to relieve the pain. The disease is conta- 
gious, but has this peculiarity: a person may be exposed to it many 
times without taking it, and, again, will have the disease without 
knowingly having come in contact with any one that has it. It occa- 
sionally affects the gland on one side only, and then protects the 
patient against another attack only on that side. 

Quinsy (Tonsillitis). — This disease begins with a chill, fol- 
lowed by fever, a flushed face and husky voice. The tonsils soon be- 
come inflamed, swollen, painful, and swallowing is very difficult, 
liquids sometimes being thrown through the nose. Usually quinsy 
runs its course in a few days, but the tonsils remain enlarged for some 
time, if not permanently. In severe cases there is constant, throbbing 
pain, and one or both tonsils become filled with pus; these cases need 
a physician's attention, for instances have been known where the 
swelling became so great as to close the air passage and choke the 
patient to death. The same treatment which is useful in all diseases 
that originate in a cold is here required — that is, keep the bowels open, 
the feet warm, and avoid exposure to draughts. A gargle made by 
dissolving bi-carbonate of soda in soft water may be used freely; it 
gives great relief. Eilert's Tar and Wild Cherry lessens the irritation 
in the throat; flaxseed lemonade is a grateful drink. Hot applications 
about the throat relieve the pain. In case pus forms, the tonsils must 
be lanced; but as this is a delicate operation, owing to the danger of 
haemorrhage, a physician should be called. When they remain perma- 
nently enlarged, paint them daily with tincture of iodine, and take 
internally Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic. The last- 
named remedy is useful in preventing renewed attacks, to which those 
who have quinsy once are more exposed than others. 

Dyspepsia is the name of a group of symptoms, rather than 



MENTAL EFFECTS OF DYSPEPSIA. 219 

of any particular disease. The word means " difficult digestion," and 
is sometimes denned as "the indigestions." It may arise from over- 
feeding, from under-feeding, from irritating articles of food, from 
eating when the body is exhausted, from bolting the food, or in con- 
sequence of disease located in any one of the organs directly or in- 
directly concerned in digestion. It is evident then that each case must 
be studied by itself to get at the cause ; for, until this is removed, no 
treatment will permanently restore the health. The chief symptoms 
are a feeling of weight or fullness in the stomach soon after taking 
food. "Belching of wind," heartburn, nausea, foul tongue, bad taste 
in the mouth, headache after eating, palpitation, irregular bowels, loss 
of appetite, or sometimes a ravenous appetite, drowsiness during the 
day, restless nights and a tired feeling on awaking. These symptoms 
vary in severity; in one person they may be slight, merely making the 
patient uncomfortable for two or three hours after eating; in another, 
they may incapacitate the sufferer for business or labor. The worst 
form is that state called hypochondria, or "hypo." The victims of 
this last disorder have all manner of dismal forebodings; they are in- 
capable of devoting themselves to their business; therefore, are re- 
garded as lazy by their friends, while their imagination pictures, one 
after another, a terrible fate from some dread disorder, of which they 
have not a symptom. We have heard of one such patient who imagined 
that his legs were changed into glass, and was on the constant lookout 
lest some one should carelessly drop something upon them, or accidentally 
run against them and shatter them to atoms. A curious feature of this 
disorder is, that while the patient may have the most fantastic notion 
in regard to his own ailments, he is perfectly competent to transact 
business, and shows no signs of unbalanced mind except when his 
imagined infirmity is referred to. In one instance, where a man be- 
lieved that his flesh had been turned to stone, and his joints locked so 
that he could not bend them, a financial panic swept away his fortune 
and left his family entirely dependent upon his exertions for their 
support. Under the stress of stern necessity he forgot himself, and 
when the crisis was past, and he had time to remember, he saw the 
folly of his delusion and never had any return of it. 

Dyspepsia may be caused by anything which interferes with the 
healthy action of the stomach or intestines. 

Treatment. — Seek for, and remove, so far as may be, the causes 
which originated the disorder. Only such food should be taken as 



220 



TREATMENT OF DYSPEPSIA. 



agrees with the stomach in its weakened condition. This can be de- 
termined by the patient better than by anybody else. It is customary 
to recommend graham bread for dyspeptics indiscriminately; this is 
mischievous advice, for many such patients can not eat it without an 
aggravation of their trouble. When it is well borne it is useful. 
Generally, stale bread — that is, bread a day or two old — will agree 
better than any other. Dry toast is better for many; others can not 
eat bread, because there is some interference with the digestion of 
starch; such persons find milk and fresh meat more suitable. Re- 
member, scrupulous selection of diet is required no longer than the 
disease lasts; but without it the disease can never be cured. It requires 
great self-denial to omit articles one has been accustomed to eat freely, 
and only those whose will is capable of controlling their appetite can 
be promised recovery after they have become the victims of dyspepsia 
in a severe form. The use of alcoholic liquors gives rise to the most 
troublesome form of dyspepsia known, and, in time, sets up such 
changes in the coats of the stomach itself, in the liver and intestinal 
glands, that anything like perfect digestion is out of the question, and 
death from exhaustion is only a question of time. All persons who 
find it necessary to take a drink of liquor before they can digest food 
are nearing the stage when failure of their natural powers is at hand. 
They are almost hopeless cases; practically, they are quite hopeless, 
because, of the number who have become enslaved to this extent, it is 
only an extremely small per cent who are by any means yet discovered 
relieved of their bondage and restored to self-control and health. A 
kind Providence has so ordered that now and then one is saved to keep 
alive hope in the drunkard, and to hold out an inducement for him to 
strive for freedom from his chains; but the small number who are res- 
cued — not more than one in a thousand — offers no encouragement to 
him who recklessly pursues a course he knows to be beset with extreme 
peril to health, to happiness and to all that man holds dear. 

Happy Home Blood Purifier, while being an excellent remedy for 
dyspeptics, possesses the additional advantage of containing no alco- 
hol. All hygienic measures of diet, ventilation, exercise and the bath 
are required. It will always be an advantage to leave home for a 
time, when it is possible; for change of scene, freedom from familiar 
daily worry and care, will give rest to body and mind as nothing else 
can. A thorough washing out of the stomach every morning, before 
breakfast, is very beneficial. To do this, drink a pint, or as much as 



CAUSE OF DIAKRHCEA. 



221 



possible, of water as hot as can be swallowed. Sip it slowly, taking 
about fifteen minutes to drink a whole pint. This should be finished 
half an hour before taking breakfast. Occasionally, cold water 
answers better, but in most cases the quantity necessary to do the 
work well gives the patient chilly sensations. The following medicine 
is useful whenever the breath is foul, the tongue coated or the stomach 
is sour: Let your druggist prepare a solution containing re-distilled 
carbolic acid, one drachm ; distilled water, three ounces ; winter-green 
essence, one ounce ; mix, and take one tea-spoonful in half a glass of 
water three times a day. Charcoal biscuit, which may be bought of 
your druggist ready prepared, are excellent to take after eating, when 
sour fluids rise in the throat; one or two of these biscuit will be sufficient 
at one time to sweeten the stomach. They are less injurious and more 
effectual than soda, which is often used for this purpose. As dyspep- 
sia comes on gradually, and seldom becomes troublesome enough to 
demand attention until it has existed for many months, and sometimes 
for years, the return to health will be slow, and takes place only as 
diseased material is removed, atom by atom ; and this takes a long 
time. The practice of trying one plan a few days and then abandon- 
ing it for another, because immediate relief is not obtained, is worse 
than useless, for it interferes with Nature's work, and actually makes 
recovery more difficult than if no treatment at all were employed. 

Diarrh.OBa. — This disease is marked by more frequent and 
thinner passages from the bowels than natural. It is more apt to 
occur during the summer and autumn than at any other time of 
year. 

The most frequent cause is error in diet; but it occurs as a symp- 
tom of various diseases. It is attended by purging, nausea, furred 
tongue, foul breath, flatulence, belching of wind or sour fluids from 
the stomach, griping pain, and, if the disease continues long, great 
loss of flesh. Children more frequently suffer from it than grown 
people. As we have said elsewhere, diarrhoea is usually an effort of 
the system to dispose of morbid material which is not removed through 
the proper channel because one or more of the excretory organs is dis- 
abled, therefore, caution should be used in checking a diarrhoea. A 
little child, about one year old, was attacked by a profuse watery diar- 
rhoea; after giving some simple domestic remedies without relief, a 
friendly neighbor advised laudanum to check it. The medicine was 
given as directed, and the mother was delighted with its prompt action; 



222 TREATMENT OF DIAKRHCEA. 

but, a few hours later, the little one began to grow stupid; its face was 
flushed, its head hot, and its eyes rolled up. The family physician 
being called in pronounced it brain fever, and, notwithstanding that 
everything possible was done, in ten days the little life went out, the 
victim of ignorant dosing. Do not be in a hurry to check a di- 
arrhoea; it should not be stopped suddenly; there is danger to grown 
people as well as to children in this method of treating it. 

Treatment. — First of all, examine carefully to see if the trouble 
may not really be constipation. In many cases, where constipation is 
due to torpor of the colon, the bowels become packed full of excre- 
ment, and after Nature has tried every other way to dispose of it, she 
sets up a diarrhoea. This cause calls for cathartics to clear out the 
intestinal canal, and requires medicine which acts upon every part of 
it, like Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills. The symptoms accompanying 
diarrhoea from this cause may very easily be mistaken for typhoid 
fever, and there is no reasonable doubt that typhoid fever does some- 
times originate in an overloaded colon and consequent blood pollution. 
The action of the cathartic often needs assistance from injections, to 
prevent injury or irritation from the putrid fseces: these will be more 
fully described in connection with constipation. After the intestinal 
canal is cleared out this form of diarrhoea will cease, and the symp- 
toms accompanying it will disappear without further treatment. The 
diarrhoea of childhood may be safely cured by Dr. Winchell's Teething 
Syrup. This excellent syrup is misnamed; one would suppose it 
designed merely for teething children and the disorders accompanying 
the cutting of the teeth. This is an error; the remedy is composed of 
materials prescribed by physicians generally, for all disorders affecting 
the alimentary canal, including sore throat (not diphtheria), cankered 
mouth, disordered stomach and bowels and irritation of the rectum, as 
shown by prolapsus or pushing out of the lower part of the bowels: 
diarrhoea requires no other medicine except when it is a sequel of con- 
stipation, as above described. Sudden chills and unsuitable food are 
responsible for most of the diarrhoeas of childhood, not omitting 
cholera infantum. The skin needs a daily bath in sickness, and the 
food must be given regularly. The best diet for diarrhoea is milk and 
lime water, using a table-spoonful of lime water to a glass of milk. It 
may be given hot or cold, as best agrees with the patient. When there 
is considerable fever and great thirst, bits of ice added to the milk 
make it more grateful to the patient. A flannel bandage pinned 



DYSENTERY SOMETIMES CONTAGIOUS. 223 

snugly around the bowels often affords great comfort; the bowels need 
to be kept at rest until the irritation subsides; therefore, when possible, 
the patient should lie in bed. Thoughtless mothers are often seen 
carrying little ones suffering from diarrhoea with them while they call 
upon a neighbor for a little chat, or go to the store for shopping. 
Such children ought not be taken away from home, even to show to a 
doctor. We have known cases where this cruel act has apparently 
destroyed all chance of recovery, and has been followed by death in a 
few hours, when previous to the "outing" the symptoms were all 
favorable to recovery. Rest in bed, warmth to feet and abdomen, 
milk and lime water diet, and when the stomach is sore or there is 
canker in the mouth, the carbolic acid solution, as recommended in 
dyspepsia, and Dr. Winchell's Teething Syrup in doses adapted to the 
age, will cure most cases of diarrhoea in children. 

DysentGfy is a disease in which there are frequent slimy or 
bloody stools, attended by griping pains and great straining or 
tenesmus in the anus. It consists of an inflammation of the large 
intestine, and is accompanied by fever and rapid loss of strength. It 
is most prevalent in hot weather, or rather when the days are hot and 
the nights cool. It may be caused by impure water, or by diseased 
substances used as food. Unsuitable diet, colds, exposure to chilly 
night air when fatigued, favor an attack; but these alone can not pro- 
duce the disease. It occurs in two forms : the mild is easily managed 
by home treatment, as hereafter directed; the severe form of the 
disease is not only dangerous but contagious. Those engaged in car- 
ing for patients suffering from it should take such precautions as we 
have recommended for typhoid fever. This variety of dysentery often 
passes into the chronic form, producing ulceration of rectum, colon, or 
both, which has been known to cause trouble for years afterward. 

Treatment. — Perfect rest in bed in a well- ventilated apartment is 
of the first importance. At the earliest appearance of the disorder 
give a table- spoonful of castor oil, with ten or fifteen drops of laudanum 
(this dose is for an adult) ; but if the early symptoms have not been 
attended to and the disease has lasted a day or two, do not give this.. 
The following is a disagreeable but very efficient remedy, which has. 
proven successful in the most fatal epidemics, and when every other 
medicine failed. Let your druggist prepare it after this receipt : Take 
of Glauber's salts, half a pound; water, one and a half pints; dissolve; 
then add nitro-muriatic acid, two fluid ounces; powdered alum, one 



224 SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF DYSENTERY. 

drachm and eight grains; mix. Dose: one table-spoonful in a gill of 
water every hour until it slightly operates on the bowels, after which, 
every three or four hours. Protect the teeth by taking through a 
straw, and rinse out the mouth with water containing soda or saleratus, 
using as much as will dissolve in the water. The food should be as 
free as possible from bulky waste, and concentrated, like milk, or beef 
extract, for the strength is rapidly exhausted unless nutritious food is 
plentifully supplied. Slippery elm or flaxseed tea may be used to 
quench thirst; rice water may also be given. Let no water be taken 
that has not first been boiled; it may be cooled and made palatable by 
pouring from one pitcher to another and by adding clean ice. Dr. 
Winchell's Teething Syrup, following the preliminary dose of castor 
oil, is the very best treatment for children; for them the laudanum 
had better be omitted and peppermint be substituted. The distress- 
ing tenesmus, which intensifies the suffering, may be relieved by 
giving a small injection into the rectum of thin corn starch, flaxseed 
or slippery elm tea, to which a little laudanum is added, about twice 
as much as the dose by mouth for a patient of the same age. A 
folded pad of cotton should be pressed firmly against the anus for a 
few minutes to retain the injection. 

Cholera Morbus. — Vomiting and purging usher in this dis- 
ease. There may also be griping, cramping pains in legs and arms 
and great fear of dying. It usually occurs in hot weather, and after 
eating unripe fruit, unsound vegetables, or in consequence of sudden 
suppression of perspiration. The discharges are usually tinged with 
bile ; both vomiting and purging are accompanied by severe pain, and 
in the intervals there is urgent thirst. The disease runs a rapid course, 
and in favorable cases the distressing symptoms gradually subside 
within a few hours, with proper treatment. In more severe cases the 
symptoms become alarming and may continue two or three days ; 
extreme exhaustion ensues, attended by depression, hurried breathing, 
cold sweats, hiccough and feeble pulse. Death may occur, but the 
majority of cases recover. Those who have had one attack must be 
very careful for several weeks afterward ; a second attack very soon 
after a first is always more severe, and frequently dangerous. Such 
persons who are obliged to travel and stop at hotels should be pro- 
vided with a remedy to take on feeling the symptoms of cholera mor- 
bus, because it is not always possible to obtain assistance in time to 
save life when among strangers. 



CHOLERA MORBUS — CHOLERA INFANTUM. 225 

Treatment. — There are many "cholera mixtures," almost any of 
which are beneficial. This one is probably as good as any. Take 
tincture of ginger, opium, capsicum, rhubarb, spirits of camphor and 
a five per cent, solution of phenic acid, using equal parts of each; mix 
them. Dose: twenty to sixty drops in water every half hour until 
relieved. Ice may be given to quench thirst. Should the purging 
threaten to destroy the patient, inject into the rectum thirty to sixty 
drops of laudanum in a little thin starch. 

A large mustard plaster should be placed over the abdomen as 
early as possible, and removed when it reddens the skin ; replace by 
a cloth saturated with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment, cov- 
ered with dry, hot flannel. After the attack is over, Happy Home Blood 
Purifier and Health Tonic, with caution in diet, will prevent a repeti- 
tion of the disease. 

Cholera Infantum. — This occurs generally in hot weather, 
hence the name " summer complaint." The principal symptoms are 
vomiting, purging of green or yellow matter, slime or blood, attended 
by pain or uneasiness, and swelling of the abdomen, with some fever. 
It .frequently begins with simple diarrhoea, and continues for some time 
before the symptoms become severe enough to excite any alarm; neg- 
lected, it progresses until the child is almost exhausted, when a slight 
cold, which suppresses the perspiration, or unripe fruit, or sour milk, 
excites an increased inflammation in the intestinal canal, and the child 
grows suddenly worse, sometimes dying within a few hours after the 
mother or nurse becomes aware that it is in danger. After this stage 
is reached, it is impossible to save the little patient. It is wise to 
treat all diarrhoeas in infants and young children, from the start, as 
serious complaints that may become dangerous if not promptly re- 
lieved. 

Treatment. — This is the same as recommended for diarrhoea. 
A caution is in place in reference to milk; as stated in another place, 
this article is useful when sour as well as when sweet, but at the point 
where it is changing from sweet to sour, it is sometimes actually 
poisonous. As we have not learned why this is so, or what milk is, or 
is not, dangerous at this point, it is prudent to regard all such milk as 
unsafe. Add lime water to the milk, or if there be any reason to 
suspect that lime disagrees (which is seldom the case), substitute cal- 
cined magnesia for lime water. Give one dose of castor oil at the 
beginning of treatment to clear out the bowels, and follow with Dr. 



226 PREVENTION OF CHOLERA. 

Winchell's Teething Syrup. A flannel bandage should be fastened 
around the bowels. It is not unusual, after beginning this treatment, 
for the skin to break out all over in a fine, bright-red rash, resembling 
scarlet fever. This shows that the skin has begun again to act, and is 
assisting other organs. It is an excellent symptom, and all cases 
where this is not " driven in " by carelessness, the child has recovered. 
It causes intense burning and dreadful itching, which makes the child 
restless, irritable and sleepless, unless the following plan is pursued: 
Bathe the child from head to foot with warm water, containing vinegar 
enough to make it taste distinctly sour, use no soap, and wipe dry with 
a soft cloth. Let this be done in a warm room, with doors and win- 
dows closed. Anoint the whole body with carbolized vaseline, contain- 
ing five grains of carbolic acid to one ounce of vaseline, using a very 
small quantity, not enough to make the skin greasy, but just enough 
to supply the natural oil that is wanting in this condition. Dress in 
clean cotton or linen; flannel irritates this eruption. Keep the child 
from taking cold, and give nothing except milk and lime water for 
food until the rash disappears. Pursue the other treatment recom- 
mended, and the child will soon be free from danger. 

Cholera.— Asiatic cholera is an appalling form of disease that 
comes as an epidemic. Purging and vomiting are the first symp- 
toms. The discharge from the bowels is a thin, colorless fluid, like 
rice water, and is spurted out with spasmodic force. There is great 
prostration, cold, clammy sweats, and terrible cramps. The body 
becomes bent, the limbs twisted, the countenance corpse-like, the 
pulse too feeble to be counted, the eyes sunken and surrounded by dark 
circles. The patient sinks into unconsciousness and soon dies unless 
a favorable change speedily takes place. A physician should always be 
summoned, but there is no known treatment that can be depended 
upon to cure it. In Europe, during recent epidemics, the best of skill 
was employed, but nearly as many died as in Asia, where thousands 
suffering from it have no treatment whatever. It is believed that it 
is carried through water, as well as air; therefore, when an epidemic 
prevails, all drinking water should be boiled before drinking. A pre- 
ventive that, with the precaution just mentioned, has much testimony 
in its favor, is to drink freely of sulphuric acid lemonade, by which 
is meant water made sour by adding sufficient aromatic sulphuric acid 
to make it the strength of lemonade. Protect the teeth by taking it 



TREATMENT OF CHOLERA COLIC. 227 

through a straw, and afterwards washing out the mouth with saleratua 
or soda and water. 

Treatment. — Pursue the plan recommended for cholera morbus. 
Remember that when cholera prevails all diarrhoeas are dangerous, 
because it is often preceded by a loose condition of the bowels. It 
is best to place the patient in bed and apply mustard to the abdo- 
men, and other remedies before described under cholera morbus. The 
mixture of Glauber's Salts, recommended for dysentery, is highly 
indorsed by some physicians of experience; it is given in the same 
way and for the cholera diarrhoea. Sometimes this can not be taken on 
account of the vomiting, and then chloroform or chloric ether, from 
ten to twenty drops for a dose, in water, will occasionally give relief. 
Tincture of camphor, in ten to thirty drop doses, frequently repeated, 
is believed to be very effectual. Salt and water sometimes allays the 
vomiting. In the stage of collapse, apply dry heat to the body; a 
dose of ether in water is sometimes useful; give half a tea-spoonful 
every fifteen minutes in a table- spoonful of water. Cramps of the 
muscles may be relieved by rubbing, and when the calves of the legs 
are the parts affected, a sudden twist of the great toe will often stop 
the contractions. Use ice for the thirst, which is intense. Those 
who live through a first attack commonly have several weeks of fever 
following before convalescence begins, during which they must be 
managed with skill to prevent a relapse. A physician should have 
charge of the case. 

During an epidemic of cholera, regular habits, in every respect, 
are the greatest safeguard. In addition to the precautions already 
named, a course of Happy Home Blood Purifier will place the system 
in a healthful condition, which is the most certain method of escaping 
all disorders which prevail as epidemics. 

Colic. — A severe griping pain, and a sense of twisting, especially 
about the navel, occurring in paroxysms, is termed colic. There may 
be nausea and vomiting, and the bowels are constipated. It may be 
caused by indigestion, by retained excrement, by the poisonous excre- 
tions which the skin should have removed, and by the slow action of 
mineral poisons, such as copper, lead, etc. 

Treatment— The first thing to be done is to alleviate present 
pain; the next to remove the cause, and thus prevent a future 
attack. Apply heat over the abdomen; this may be in the form of 
cloths wrung out of hot water, mustard paste, or a stove lid or plate 



228 



ORIGIN OF CONSTIPATION. 



heated and wrapped in a newspaper — anything, in fact, that will feel 
hot to the surface. Internally there is a chance for a wide choice. 
Hot peppermint tea, hot ginger tea, pepper tea, five to ten drops of 
chloroform in one table-spoonful of water, repeated every ten minutes; 
ether given in the same way; hot water drank in the quantity of a pint 
or more; for children give Dr. Winchell's Teething Syrup internally, 
and apply dry heat externally. It is not enough to apply heat to the 
abdomen; it should also be applied to the buttock and the lower part 
of the back, across the hips. Should the stomach be full of irritating 
substances an emetic will be the best thing to be given at first. After 
the attack is over, give a dose of Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills, and 
follow it up by Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic, to 
remove the debility that is always present. This remedy is extremely 
beneficial when the colic is due to mineral poisoning, but the source 
from which poison was received must be cut off before any medicine 
can be expected to cure the patient. 

Constipation. — This is a condition of the bowels in which the 
evacuations do not occur regularly and of sufficient quantity, or are 
expelled with difficulty. It is owing to a deficient action of the mus- 
cular coat of the intestines, to a lack of secretion from the mucous 
membrane lining them, or to a badly selected diet; sometimes all these 
causes work together. Deficiency of bile, or a stoppage of the duct which 
prevents it from flowing into the duodenum; sedentary occupations; 
tight lacing; the abuse of cathartic medicines; catarrh of the intestines 
produced by chilling the abdomen or buttock; some medicines, such 
as tincture of iron, alum solutions, etc. , as well as strong tea, are all pro- 
ductive of constipation. 

Treatment. — This requires regulation of the habits, as well as 
medicine. The bowels, by diligent attention, can be trained to regu- 
larity, and without it no medicine can restore them to their natural 
action. It is necessary to attend to the calls of nature on the first sig- 
nal ; if this be neglected, the warning will cease to be given, and it is 
only by great effort that the bowels can be brought back to the habit 
of letting their wants be known. Whenever possible, the habit of a 
daily evacuation of the bowels in the morning should be cultivated; 
but if business interferes, let it be done in the evening, when there is 
more leisure. Severe straining should be avoided, as it tends to induce 
piles. Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills, alternated with the Happy Home 
Blood Purifier and Health Tonic, will cure this disorder, provided they 



TBEATMENT OF CONSTIPATION WOKMS. 229 

be assisted by regularity in eating and prompt attention when the 
bowels feel like moving. 

Sometimes, through neglect or disease, they become overloaded 
and partially paralyzed; they then need to be assisted by injections 
to soften the masses and wash them away. Under these circumstances 
it is a good plan to take a cathartic dose of Eilert's Daylight Liver 
Pills at bed-time, and at the same time inject into the rectum one 
ounce of pure glycerine and prevent its escape. Should there be diffi- 
culty, either from bulk or hardness, when the pills produce a desire 
for a movement of the bowels, prepare the following, which is variously 
known as an " enema," " clyster," or injection: Take one table-spoon- 
ful of common salt, two table-spoonfuls of lard or olive oil, the same 
quantity of molasses, and stir all together in one pint of warm water. 
This is to be thrown into the rectum by a suitable syringe, while the 
patient is lying down. The quantity for an adult is from ten fluid 
ounces to one pint; for a child ten years old, half the amount; and for 
an infant one year old or less, from one to three fluid ounces. 

Worms. — There are no less than seven distinct kinds of worms 
that inhabit the human body, and the number of parasites exceed 
thirty. There is almost no organ or tissue in which they may not 
lodge and live. The eggs and larvae of worms, many of them too 
small to be seen by the naked eye, enter the stomach with impure 
drinking water, and also through raw or imperfectly cooked pork. 

The symptoms of worms in the intestines are itching of the nos- 
trils and anus, voracious or impaired appetite, foul breath, pallor about 
the mouth, bluish circle around the eyes, disturbed sleep, grinding of 
teeth in sleep, swelling of abdomen, irregular bowels, and a harsh, dry 
cough. Not all of these symptoms are present in any one case, 
and sometimes none of them. The only certain proof that worms 
are present is the passage of some of them, or parts of them, in the 
fseces. Examination of the dead has unexpectedly shown that the 
irritation of worms, even when their presence was unsuspected, is 
capable of giving rise to a great variety of disorders, among which may 
be named convulsions, inflammation of the bowels, abscess, lock-jaw, 
and kidney complaint. Worms can not inhabit a healthy intestinal 
canal; there must be an accumulation of unhealthy material within it 
to furnish a home for them. 

Treatment. — Intestinal worms of all kinds, except tape- worms, 
whether occurring in children or adults, may be destroyed and 



230 TAPE -WORM, AND ITS TREATMENT. 

removed by Dr. Jaques' German Worm Cakes; these should be taken 
at bed-time, in doses suited to the age. They should be preceded by 
a cathartic dose of Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills, to clear out morbid 
material which envelops the worms, and protects them from contact 
with medicines that can destroy them. The worm cakes should be 
taken three days in succession and followed by a cathartic. Wait one 
week for any germs that have been left behind to develop, then repeat 
the medicine exactly as before. 

Tape-worm requires different treatment, and the medicine that 
removes it in one case will fail in another. There is no agreeable 
mode known of removing this parasite. As good a plan as any, to 
begin with, is to take a dose of Eilert's Pills at bed-time, and go with- 
out eating for twenty-four hours. After the pills have operated, take 
pumpkin seeds prepared in this way : Peel the shell from enough 
seeds to fill a pint cup with the meats; pound these fine and mix with 
cold water to make a thick paste, and take all for one dose. After an 
hour, take a drachm of ether in divided doses, in water or capsules, 
and an hour after this a dose of castor oil. 

The worm usually comes away whole, if at all ; the head should be 
looked for; it is distinguished from the other joints which make up the 
worm by a hook- like attachment, with which it fastens itself into the 
wall of the intestine, to keep from being carried out with the excre- 
ment. This worm is continually casting off joints, which may be seen 
in the bowel discharges, and are the only certain proof that a person 
has tape-worm. The joints will continue to grow so long as the head 
remains. Sometimes the patient who has had a worm removed, head 
and all, will be astonished to find joints in the passages, and is inclined 
to believe there has been some mistake. There is a variety of tape- 
worm that is found in pairs, and when one is removed of course the 
one which is left will continue to cast off joints as before. It will be 
necessary to repeat the treatment, which consists in emptying the 
bowels to expose the worm to a medicine which can stupefy or destroy 
it; this medicine must be as strong as the patient can bear, and must 
be followed by an active cathartic to remove the worm, while it is 
under the influence of the medicine. The patient must abstain from 
eating during this time, in order to leave the worm unprotected. 
Another preparation which may be used in case the pumpkin seeds 
fail, is extract of male fern, taking from half a fluid drachm to one 
fluid ounce, according to age, mixed up with a little gum water. The 



PIN- WORM CONGESTION OF THE LIVER. 231 

patient should eat nothing but a little milk and bread for one day, 
take a cathartic at night, fast till the next day noon, and take the dose 
of medicine an hour before dinner; then eat as usual, and at bed-time 
take another dose of Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills. The success of 
this treatment depends almost entirely upon the quality of the male 
fern; only the fresh extract is of any benefit. 

Pin-worms. — Small, white worms, about half an inch long, are often 
present in large quantities in the rectum of children. They give rise 
to intense itching, and make the sufferer intensely nervous, when they 
do not more seriously affect the health. Such children need a pleas- 
ant, bitter tonic to restore the digestive apparatus, which is always at 
fault in these cases. Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic 
is well suited to them. A plain diet, consisting largely of bread and 
milk, is desirable. The worms themselves are removed by injections, 
A tea-spoonful of table salt in half a glass of water injected into the 
rectum once a day, for about three times, will usually destroy these 
worms. This treatment may need to be repeated two or three times, 
at intervals of a week. Other injections useful for the same purpose 
may be prepared as follows : 1. Place one ounce of quassia chips in 
one quart of soft water, let it stand over night, and strain off the water, 
which will taste very bitter. Use half a tea-cupful or more for one 
injection, and repeat as recommended above. 2. Aloes, twenty 
grains; carbonate of potash, seven grains; thin, boiled starch, five 
fluid ounces. Place the aloes and potash in an earthen bowl, pour on 
a very little of the starch and rub them together; add the remainder 
of the starch, little by little, mixing the ingredients evenly through it, 

Diseases Of the Liver. — It is customary to attribute all the 
ill feelings that appear to originate below the diaphragm, to the liver. 
Although this is a large and important organ, which has considerable 
to do with blood-making, yet it does its work so well that it is not 
nearly so often ailing as it is supposed to be. Retained excretions are 
much more frequently responsible for the symptoms called bilious than 
the liver itself. Fortunately, the most of the drugs which are supposed 
to be liver medicines do not affect the liver at all; therefore, it is sel- 
dom the sufferer for this error in diagnosis. There are, . however, a 
few diseases of this organ to which we wish to call attention. 

Congestion of the Liver. — The symptoms are a sense of weight 
and fullness in the vicinity of this organ, with nausea, foul tongue, 
headache or dizziness, slight torpor of the bowels, and some jaundice. 



232 VABIOUS DISORDERS OF THE LIVER. 

Sometimes the liver may be felt through the abdominal wall below the 
ribs, enlarged, hard, and tender on pressure. 

Side- ache, or Stitch in the Side. — This is generally due to a 
temporary congestion of the liver following violent exercise, particu- 
larly when taken soon after meals. 

Inflammation of the Liver. — This is attended by pain in the 
region of the liver, which is increased on pressure, deep breathing, or 
a cough. The patient can not lie on the left side; there is difficulty 
in breathing; there may be vomiting, cough, hiccough, a yellow 
tinge to the eye, and sometimes jaundice. This disease occasionally 
terminates in abscesses, which have to be opened; therefore it should 
come under the care of a physician. 

Hob-nailed Liver, which is as fatal as cancer, is usually caused 
by drinking alcoholic liquor, and is one of the most common results of 
continued intemperance. It generally occurs in those past middle life, 
and recovery is not to be expected. It usually ends fatally within a 
year or so, and all that can be done is to lessen the suffering by nar- 
cotic remedies. A person addicted to drink, who finds his liver becom- 
ing tender or painful, with that group of symptoms which indicate 
either inflammation or congestion, and especially if he be past forty, 
must abandon liquor and seek relief promptly, if he would not perish 
by that painful and hopeless disorder which is known as granular or 
hob nail liver. 

Fatty Liver is a disease common to the moderate drinker and 
to drunkards; in rare instances it has been known to follow debility 
from other causes. It is incurable after it is fully developed. 

Treatment. — Both congestion and inflammation of the liver need, 
first of all, to have free circulation established, for there is an obstruc- 
tion somewhere that gives rise to the disease. Eilert's Daylight Liver 
Pills may be given in cathartic, followed by laxative, doses. Another 
remedy, much more unpleasant, but sometimes useful, is Epsom salts. 
One tea- spoonful is dissolved in half a glass of water, to which ten 
drops of aromatic sulphuric acid is added; this makes one dose, 
which should be repeated every four hours until the bowels move 
freely; then the medicine will be needed only three times a day. As 
soon as the pain and swelling of the liver have disappeared, take 
Happy Home Blood Purifier, in tonic doses, for a month or two. 

Gall-StoneS. — The gall bladder is liable to have formed within 
it a number of hard, round balls, resembling stones, which appear to 



GALL-STONES JAUNDICE. 233 

consist of the salts of the bile. The pain caused by their passage 
through the gall-duct is called "bilious colic." The cause of their 
formation can not always be discovered. We have seen one patient in 
whom it was possible to trace the cause. In this instance it was a cold 
which set up catarrh of the intestine at the point where the gall- duct 
empties into it. This produced a swelling of the membrane, which 
closed the orifice of the gall-duct; the bile was consequently retained 
until the swelling subsided; in the mean time the watery portion was 
taken again into the blood and carried to the skin, giving it a yellow 
hue, while the solid portion was rolled into little balls by the contrac- 
tions of the muscles in their effort to expel the contents of the gall- 
bladder. About ten days after taking a severe cold he would be seized 
with an agonizing pain in the region of the gall-duct ; the pulse became 
very slow and feeble, the countenance pale, a cold sweat stood upon 
his face and brow, there was nausea and some vomiting; the pain 
would increase and the prostration become alarming, when, as sud- 
denly as the pain began, it would cease, and he would fall asleep. The 
stones had escaped into the intestine, and he would suffer no more for 
that time. He was advised to avoid taking cold, and, when he did take 
one, to begin treatment immediately to restore the action of the skin. 
Although this patient was an aged man, and was at first regarded as 
incurable, by strictly carrying out this advice he was relieved from this 
painful and dangerous malady. It can not be expected that all cases 
will terminate so happily, for the cause is often beyond our reach. 

Treatment. — Those measures which promote health are useful, and 
none is of more influence over this disease than regulation of the diet. 
Fats and sweets should be used very sparingly; these, of course, include 
pastry of all kinds. During the pain, chloroform in the proportion of 
one drachm in one ounce of gum-arabic water, or flax-seed tea, may be 
given in tea-spoonful doses every ten or fifteen minutes. Another 
remedy which has been highly praised is composed of equal parts of 
sulphuric ether and oil of turpentine, mixed and well shaken ; ten drops 
in water may be given for a dose, and repeated in fifteen minutes. 
After the paroxysm is relieved, Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health 
Tonic, with hygienic measures, will generally prevent another attack. 
Emetics sometimes relieve the paroxysm immediately, but nothing 
equals the hot bath when it can be quickly prepared. 

Jaundice. — A gall-stone too large to pass through the bile duct 
sometimes blocks it up, and the bile being taken up again, produces 



234 acute bright's disease. 

the condition known as jaundice. It is not a separate disease, but is 
only a sign of disordered action of the liver, or obstruction to the es- 
cape of the bile in a natural way. The skin becomes yellow, as do all 
the tissues, particularly the whites of the eyes. The yellow color ap- 
pears first in the eyes, then the face, neck, chest, and finally the entire 
body is stained with it. The shades of yellowness vary from a faint 
tinge to a deep orange hue, and in some cases greenish, or almost 
black. The latter are the most dangerous, and are known as green or 
black jaundice. It may come on gradually, when it is preceded by 
headache, loss of appetite, nausea, irregular bowels, or constipation, 
colic, pains, languor, etc. Yellowness is the first symptom in the acute 
form. The urine is of a saffron color, as the disorder advances, and the 
excrement a light clay or putty color. Other symptoms are trouble- 
some itching or tingling of the surface of the body, a bitter taste in the 
mouth, furred and yellow tongue, thirst, drowsiness, giddines's, peevish- 
ness and exhaustion. The duration of jaundice varies from a few days 
to several weeks. The acute form is seldom fatal; but the chronic 
form, that comes on slowly, is due to organic disease that is often of a 
dangerous character. 

Treatment. — The bowels must be kept open by a mild cathartic, 
like Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills. The intestinal canal should be 
washed out once or twice daily by a large quantity of soft water, or 
that which has been boiled. Hot water usually answers better than 
cold. Articles of drink or diet which irritate or congest the liver must 
be avoided; such as fermented liquors, wine, hot spices, fat and rich 
or indigestible articles of diet. Jaundice caused by an obstructed bile- 
duct is relieved by warm baths. 

Bright's Disease receives its name from Dr. Bright, who 
drew attention to the existence of this singular affection in 1827. 
There are many different disorders of the kidneys now grouped under 
this name, having, in common, albumen in the urine and dropsy. It 
occurs in two forms, the acute and chronic. Men are more subject to 
it than women. The acute form usually results from exposure to cold 
and wet, which checks the perspiration, or to the excessive use of alco- 
holic drinks. Occasionally it follows scarlet fever. It begins with 
chilliness, soon followed by feverishness, headache, restlessness, op- 
pression in breathing, nausea, perhaps vomiting, pains in the back and 
limbs, with dropsy, which is first observed as puffiness about the eyes 
and face in the morning. There is frequent urination, but the urine is 



CHKONIC BKIGHT'S DISEASE. 235 

scanty, heavy and loaded with albumen. A portion of it in a spoon or 
cup held over a lamp for a few moments will thicken and turn white, 
exactly as white of egg mixed with water will do when boiled. This 
test alone, however, does not prove that one has Bright's Disease, for 
there are other substances sometimes found in urine which turn it white 
when heated. The acute form of this disease runs its course in a few 
weeks, ending in recovery, death, or the chronic state. About two- 
thirds of the cases recover. 

Treatment— Avoid alcoholic drinks and medicines which stimulate 
the kidneys. Action of other excretory organs is to be stimulated to 
give the kidneys rest, because they are overtaxed. Profuse perspiration 
is desirable, and no better method of relieving the kidneys exists than 
the Turkish bath. In localities where this can not be had, the vapor 
bath (see page 172) makes a very good substitute. Eilert's Pills, to 
keep the bowels active, with liquid food, preferably milk, kumyss or 
buttermilk, with little or no solid food, is the best plan to bring about 
recovery. After the fever has disappeared and the symptoms begin to 
improve, tincture of iron is the best remedy to prevent the escape of 
albumen. It may be taken in ten drop doses, in a glass of water, three 
or four times a day, taking care to protect the teeth, which will be 
blackened by contact with even so dilute a solution as here recom- 
mended It is better to take it through a straw or glass tube. 

Chronic Bright'S Disease.— This comes on so slowly and 
with so few symptoms that the victim frequently has no warning of the 
serious nature of his illness until the later stages. There is very 
gradual loss of strength, paleness or puffiness of the face, a frequent 
desire to urinate, perhaps shortness of breath; but the occurrence of 
dropsy is often the first thing which leads to the suspicion of Chronic 
Bright's Disease. A physician's counsel should immediately be sought 
upon discovery of symptoms which appear to be the forerunners of 
this dreaded disease. It is better to consult a physician needlessly, and 
have one's fears removed by certainty that there is no reason for them, 
than to live in doubt and fear until the time has passed when any per- 
manent help is possible. Do not trust to the opinion of strangers; 
take counsel of a practitioner who knows you, your habits, and, if pos- 
sible, your parents. He has data for an opinion of more value than 
you can obtain elsewhere. 

Diabetes. — This is a condition in which an excess of urine is 



236 DIABETES INSIPIDUS DIABETES MELLITU8. 

passed. There are two forms — diabetes insipidus, in which there is an 
excessive quantity of urine without any change in its nature except 
that it is more dilute than usual, and diabetes mellitus, which contains, 
besides the excessive quantity, a considerable amount of grape sugar. 
The former may come on suddenly or slowly. The patient's attention 
is usually first called to it by having to get up frequently at night to 
empty the bladder. There is a sense of weariness, with pain in the 
back and considerable thirst. These symptoms may be months in de- 
veloping. The system is gradually undermined when it is allowed to 
continue untreated, until it terminates in diabetes mellitus, in con- 
sumption or other fatal chronic complaint. 

Diabetes mellitus also comes on suddenly or slowly ; generally 
months elapse before the patient will think it worth while to consult a 
physician. It comes on without an ache, or a pain, or other promi- 
nent symptom. The patient notices that he is losing flesh and strength 
every day, and is becoming too feeble to attend to business; at the 
same time he eats nearly as much as usual. He has frequent calls to 
pass water, and the amount is very large. He continues to grow thin 
and weak, until scarcely able to get about, and even when obliged to 
keep his room the greater part of the time, there is still no suffering. 
The thirst is the most troublesome feature, the patient having an almost 
constant desire for and drinking large quantities of fluid. Hectic 
fever comes on in the later stage with night-sweats. Consumption 
sometimes appears and carries off the patient. Again, exhausting 
diarrhoea sets in, which destroys him; and sometimes he suddenly 
becomes unconscious, and, after lingering a day or two, dies from 
poisoning produced by the amount of urea collected in the blood, on 
account of the inability of the kidneys to remove their share. A dia- 
betic person is not only liable to consumption, but is very liable to 
bronchitis, chronic pneumonia, or gangrene. Boils and carbuncles are 
common to these patients, and sometimes complete the exhaustion and 
are the immediate cause of death. There is no disease in which the 
sufferer holds his fate in his own hands to such an extent as in dia- 
betes. He must exercise self-control in eating if he would prolong 
his life. His diet must include those articles of food which are defi- 
cient in sugar and starch. He may eat fish, oysters, clams, poultry, and 
meat of all kinds except liver; butter, cream, cheese, eggs, greens, 
lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, celery, water- cresses, onions and 
asparagus may form a part of his diet. The articles which he must 



HEADACHES METHOD OF AVERTING THE ATTACKS. 237 

■entirely forego are beets, parsnips, carrots, turnips, potatoes, beans, 
peas, rice, sago, tapioca, arrowroot, chestnuts, confectionery, and all 
bread, cake, puddings and pies made of wheat or rye flour, corn or 
oatmeal. The desire for bread may be supplied by the use of gluten 
bread, branbread, or almond bread. Tea and coffee, without sugar, 
are allowable. Acid fruits may sometimes be indulged in, but sweet 
apples, figs, dates and raisins must be avoided, as also beer, cider, 
wine and liquors. Sudden changes in temperature must be guarded 
against, as well as exposure to damp and cold. The body should be 
protected by flannel next the skin. Exercise in the open air, good 
ventilation, frequent baths, with dry rubbing, are excellent aids to 
treatment. Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic is the 
principal constitutional remedy required. The earliest symptom of 
lung complication should be met with the administration of Eilert's 
Extract of Tar and Wild Cherry. Electricity is an excellent constitu- 
tional tonic, assisting digestion, assimilation and excretion. 

Headaches may be divided into organic, which are due to dis- 
ease of the brain, or its covering; bilious, those caused by a weak 
stomach, unsuitable food, indigestion, lack of exercise, or inactive liver, 
kidneys, skin or lungs; nervous, when resulting from weakness or ex- 
haustion; and neuralgic or rheumatic, from the same causes which 
produce similar pain in other parts of the body. 

Treatment. — During the attack let the patient remain in a cool, 
darkened room, which is kept quiet. Ask no questions that can be 
avoided, and carry on no conversation within hearing of the patient; 
the buzzing of voices is very distressing to the sufferer. When the 
head is hot, cloths wrung out of cold water and laid on the forehead 
will give some relief, or the hair may be wet and fanned dry, which 
cools by evaporation. In the rheumatic or neuralgic variety, a hot pil- 
low, and dry, hot flannel wrapped snugly about the head, leaving only 
space sufficient to breathe through, are very comforting. A hot hop 
pillow, or poppy pillow, is a favorite with some patients. 

To Prevent an Attack of Headache. — All forms of headache are 
lessened in severity by attending to the excretions and keeping them 
regular and natural. This includes bathing, exercise, ventilation, free- 
dom from dampness — especially in sleeping-rooms — a wholesome and 
suitably selected diet, and prompt attention to the calls of Nature to 
secure regular action of the excretory organs. When symptoms of a 
headache are already present, a cathartic dose of Eilert's Daylight 



ZiiO TREATMENT OF HEADACHE APOPLEXY. 

Liver Pills will prevent the attack, except it be of the nervous variety. 
This calls for better nourishment and change of employment or sur- 
roundings, if either have produced the exhaustion. Aromatic spirits of 
ammonia in thirty- drop doses, well diluted with water, and repeated 
ever} 7 half hour for two or three times, is a good remedy. Sometimes 
compound spirits of lavender does better; it may be given in doses of 
thirty drops on a lump of sugar. Particular care must be exercised in 
the choice of food when subject to nervous headache. Fresh meat, veget- 
ables, fruit, milk, and eggs, either raw or slightly cooked, are needed. 
Organic headache may be somewhat relieved, but not cured until the 
disease which gives rise to it is removed. Sometimes the following 
will suppress an attack, if given at the start: Dissolve two grains iodide 
of potash in a wine-glass of water, and sip the whole slowly, taking 
about ten minutes to finish the dose. Bilious headache requires a reg- 
ulation of the habits to remove the cause, and the only medicine needed 
is Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic in alternative doses, 
continued from one to three months, or until the skin becomes clear 
and smooth, the excretory organs active, and the digestion perfect. A 
prescription which is very popular among those subject to regular 
attacks of headache is the following; it should be prepared by a drug- 
gist: The ingredients are — muriate of ammonia, 3 drachms; acetate 
morphia, 1 grain: citrate caffein, 30 grains; aromatic spirits of 
ammonia, 1 drachm; elixir guarana, 4 ounces; rosewater, 4 ounces. 
Dose: a dessert- spoonful every ten to twelve minutes, while the pain 
lasts. 

The vomiting attending sick headache is sometimes relieved by 
salt and water; again, lemon juice acts better, and the carbolic acid 
mixture recommended for dyspepsia is occasionally useful; when these 
fail, give hot water, a pint at once, to rinse out the stomach and quiet 
the distressing retching. 

Apoplexy, or ;1 stroke," is so called because the victim falls 
suddenly, as from a blow; it more frequently attacks those past middle 
life, and is usually due to a broken blood vessel in the brain. It is 
believed that those who are troubled with a rush of blood to the head, 
who have a red face, and are subject to spells of dizziness, are more likely 
to be stricken with it; but those who have never experienced these 
symptoms are not free from it. The patient suddenly becomes uncon- 
scious, the breathing is like snoring, the face looks full and swollen. 
The fit may last from two or three hours to a week, during which time 



MANAGEMENT OF APOPLEXY PAEALYSIS. 239 

there is complete unconsciousness. The danger is somewhat in pro- 
portion to the degree of insensibility, the amount of snoring, the puff- 
ing out of the cheeks, and the difficulty of swallowing. Each succeed- 
ing attack becomes more dangerous, and a third is seldom survived. 
As the patient begins to come out of the fit he is found to have more 
or less paralysis, and the mind is somewhat injured. He improves up 
to a certain point, but is never again quite the same as before the attack. 
The impairment of mind is shown by failure in memory, childishness, 
irritability, impatience, and excitability. 

Treatment. — A person who has a tendency to apoplexy should 
take measures to ward it off. He should avoid alcoholic drinks, great 
excitement, excessive exercise during digestion, exposure to extreme 
heat or cold, and everything which throws an extra amount of blood to 
the head. Eunning to catch a train is a dangerous exercise for such 
an one. Eetiring while the stomach is full and lying on the back or 
right side favors an attack. The bowels should be regulated by Eilert's 
Daylight Liver Pills, which ought to be taken in cathartic doses when- 
ever there is dizziness, rush of blood to the head, and a feeling of full- 
ness or oppression in it. 

During the attack the room should be kept cool and airy, the head 
should be raised the body being propped up into a partially sitting 
posture, and bathed with cool water. Ice may be applied, but when it 
is not at hand, fanning the head while wet will cool it rapidly. Mus- 
tard plasters may be applied to the calves of the legs and soles of the 
feet. Frequently the fit has been preceded by constipation, and an 
overloaded colon will obstruct the circulation in the abdomen; this, of 
course, destroys the equilibrium of the circulation in other parts. Under 
these circumstances an injection, as recommended for constipation, 
should be given as soon as possible. Doctors sometimes find it neces- 
sary to give a powerful physic, like a drop or two of croton oil mixed 
with sugar and placed upon the tongue ; but it is better to seek medi- 
cal advice before giving this. 

The treatment after recovery from the fit is the same as for pa- 
ralysis. 

Paralysis, also called palsy, or, by some, "numb palsy," is mani- 
fested by loss of motion, or feeling, or both, in one or more parts of 
the body. The cause may be disease of the brain, of the spinal cord, 
or of the nerves. The most dangerous form is that which follows an. 
attack of apoplexy, and affects both halves of the body alike. Gener- 



1240 CONVULSIONS, THEIR TREATMENT AND PREVENTION. 

ally one-half only is disabled. Medical advice should be had when 
any part of the body is paralyzed; it is unsafe to use any kind of home 
treatment, except under medical advice, for at least one month after the 
attack, and whatever is done then should be commenced very carefully 
lest another shock follow. 

The best medicine to restore the nutrition of the parts, which is 
interfered with by want of exercise following the loss of power, is 
Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic. It not only cleanses 
the blood, but acts as a direct stimulant to the nervous system. To re- 
store the strength of the affected muscles and prevent wasting, electri- 
city is a valuable agent. For domestic treatment the best instrument 
we have examined is the Family Battery manufactured by the Mcintosh 
Galvanic and Faradic Battery Company, of Chicago. There is fur- 
nished with it a little pamphlet of instruction which clearly explains not 
only the correct method of applying electricity, but points out how to 
avoid its dangers. 

Convulsions, or "fits," consist of a sudden contraction of vari- 
ous muscles, or alternate contraction and relaxation, the patient usually 
being unconscious at the time. They are most frequent among chil- 
dren under ten years of age, and are produced by several causes, of which 
indigestion or errors in diet, worms, teething, and colds are the most 
common. 

Treatment. — During the attack, the hot bath and an emetic are 
the most efficient measures. The best emetic for the purpose is ipecac. 
To prepare the emetic, take a heaping tea- spoonful of the powdered 
ipecac, pour on it a tea-cupful of boiling water, let it stand a few minutes, 
strain and give a tea- spoonful of the liquid every five minutes until 
vomiting begins. If the child can not swallow, mix one tea-spoonful of 
the powdered ipecac with half a pint of hot water and inject into the 
rectum. Prevent its escape for a few minutes, and it will produce 
vomiting. Lobelia tincture, in doses of ten drops, mixed with sugar 
and water, may be repeated every ten minutes until vomiting begins; 
it may also be used as an injection when it can not be swallowed, in 
about twice the strength that it would be given by mouth. 

To Prevent Fits. — Regulate the diet; feed mostly on bread and 
milk, tender meat and vegetables. More important even than the 
kind of food is the regularity of eating. Let a child who has ever had 
a fit, or symptoms of one, eat nothing at all, not an apple, a cracker, a 
cookey or a bit of candy or sugar between meals; but give it food every 



EPILEPSY, OK "FALLING SICKNESS." 241 

three hours during the day, provided it is hungry enough to eat plain, 
substantial articles so often, but do not tempt the appetite with cakes, 
pies or other nick-nacks. Worms must be removed when present. 
An excellent and thorough worm medicine is well known and popu- 
lar in families everywhere — we refer to Dr. Jaques' German Worm 
Cakes. 

The irritation of teething can be subdued by Dr. Winchell's 
Teething Syrup, a pleasant remedy, whose merits are not half appreci- 
ated by the public. It should be given whenever the child is seen to 
twitch, to draw its face to one side in sleep, to bend its thumb tightly 
against the palm of the hand — all of which are signs of impending 
convulsions. 

Epilepsy. — This disease attacks persons suddenly, making them 
fall, hence the common name, "falling sickness." The fits usually last 
from five to twenty minutes, although they have been known to continue 
much longer. The patient may appear to be in good health, when 
suddenly, without any warning, he utters a piercing scream, or a sup- 
pressed groan, and falls senseless, foaming at the mouth, with the face 
and body violently convulsed. There is hardly any sickness which is 
so alarming to the spectator who is not familiar with epilepsy, as a fit 
of this kind. The dark and distorted countenance, the noisy breath- 
ing, the foam thrown from the mouth, which is often bloody, in conse- 
quence of biting the tongue as the jaws are violently drawn from side 
to side, the jerking of the muscles and the rolling of the eyes, give the 
patient the appearance of being in extreme danger; yet it is rare for 
one to die in the fit. The paroxysm is followed by sleep, when he 
awakes unconscious of what has occurred, unless his tongue has been 
bitten, in which case the soreness, which remains for sometime, makes 
it known to him. 

Although an epileptic seizure usually comes on suddenly, there 
are sometimes warnings of its approach; these may be headache, 
dizziness, an irritable temper, noises in the ears, or floating specks 
before the eyes ; many persons also have a peculiar warning, called an 
"aura," just before the attack begins; it is sometimes a creeping or 
blowing sensation, like a current of air blowing upon one spot, or like a 
stream of water falling upon it, or a slight convulsive tremor or shud- 
der, beginning in one hand or foot, nape of the neck, or almost any- 
where, which extends to the head, when the patient loses his senses. 
Several fits may follow in succession, and he only partially regains 



242 TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY. 

consciousness when he falls into the deep sleep which always follows, 
and from which he awakens exhausted and with some mental confusion 
and headache. The fits occur at irregular intervals; in some cases 
there are months between the attacks ; in the worst cases there are from 
one to many fits every day. This disease does not destroy life, or not 
for a long time, but it impairs the memory and injures the mind; when 
it begins in infancy the child becomes idiotic by the time it is grown 
up; beginning in adults, it usually terminates in mental derangement 
or insanity. The only immediate danger to epileptics is from injuries 
received in falling when the fit seizes them. They should never 
remain near an open fire, or close to a hot stove, or stand where they 
are liable to fall down stairs, or upon moving machinery. Great dis- 
tress and inconvenience is produced by the bitten tongue; by-standers 
should place a piece of rubber, cork, soft wood, or a folded handker- 
chief between the teeth to protect the tongue, taking care that the 
object does not slip into the throat. It is not known what the peculiar 
condition of the system is which makes a person the victim of this 
terrible disease. Sudden fright, blows upon the head, intestinal worms, 
intemperance, indigestion and bad habits, are some of the causes which 
give rise to a fit in those predisposed to it. 

Treatment. — During the attack, loosen the clothing, give plenty 
of fresh air, protect the tongue and — wait. Do not attempt to give 
any medicine. There are two medicines which, in some cases, seem to 
cut short, or altogether prevent, an epileptic attack, when taken at the 
instant the "aura" is felt; they are, of course, useless to those who 
have no warning. One of these is nitrite of amyl ; it is put up in tiny 
glass capsules, one of which is crushed in the hand and the medicine 
inhaled. The other is tincture of nitro-glycerine, one drop of which 
is placed on the tongue. One succeeds when the other fails, in some 
cases, but which is the better of the two must be learned by trial. 
Never take both for the same attack. These are very powerful chemi- 
cals, and should never be carelessly handled, nor left in the way of 
children; neither should a larger dose be taken than here described. 
In the intervals between attacks the patient should carefully attend to 
his personal habits, keeping the excretory organs active and avoiding 
excesses of all kinds. Regularity in eating, sleeping and exercise is 
essential; a plain, easily digested diet, avoidance of alcoholic liquors 
and tobacco, and freedom from excitement are required. Considerable 
self-denial is necessary; but such patients must understand that it 



NEURALGIA, A " NERVE CRY." 243 

is only at that price that they can hope for a cure and a preservation 
of their mental powers. 

The bromides permanently cure many cases of epilepsy; among 
those which may be employed are bromides of potash, ammonia, soda 
and camphor. The doses average ten grains, repeated from three to 
four times a day, and, in severe cases, of tener. As one form soon 
disagrees with the stomach, it is better to take one at a time, and 
changing to another when it can no longer be borne. Bromide of 
potash is the one that should be the chief remedy, only taking one of 
the others when it becomes necessary to change. Happy Home Blood 
Purifier and Health Tonic is the remedy for keeping the digestive and 
excretory organs active. In childhood, worms frequently complicate 
the case; their removal, then, becomes of the first importance. For 
this purpose Dr. Jaques' German Worm Cakes are demanded. 

Neuralgia. — This word means "a pain in a nerve." The dis- 
order to which the name Neuralgia is given consists of violent pain, 
coming on at intervals, varying from a few seconds to a day or more. 
It occurs on one side of the body only at once. Anything which impairs 
the health and reduces the strength may give rise to neuralgia upon 
exposure to cold or damp. Certain blood poisons, malaria, gout, or the 
pressure of a tumor upon a nerve, may cause neuralgia ; lead and mer- 
cury in the system are sometimes the originators of "nerve pain." 
This pain is acute, shooting or darting; it comes on suddenly, and 
ceases just as suddenly. Tic douloureux is a neuralgia which affects 
the nerves of the face. Sciatica is a pain located in the back of the 
thigh, the knee, the front, back and outside of the leg, or the foot. 
Neuralgia of the heart is called angina pectoris. There are other 
names for it, according as it is located, in the stomach, liver, abdomen, 
etc. ; but the nature of the pain itself does not differ with its location; 
moreover, it is apt to dart about from one part to another. 

Treatment. — The greatest danger attendant upon neuralgia is that 
the sufferer will acquire the habit of resorting to narcotics. Many 
opium-eaters became slaves to the drug through first taking it for 
neuralgia. It is the same with the victims of chloral, the bromides, 
and all other of the quieting drugs which enslave. The cause should 
be sought and removed, after which the strength of the system must 
be restored by tonics, nourishing diet and out-door exercise. 

The pain is frequently relieved by hot applications; the heat may 
be moist or dry, as proves most comforting. A good way to keep up 



244 



ACUTE ARTICULAR RHEUMATISM. 



a moist heat with little trouble is to use a hot soap-stone wrapped in a 
cloth wet in warm water; it may be sprinkled with hot water as it 
dries. A brick does very well in the absence of a soap-stone. A hot 
hop pillow or bag of poppies frequently gives great relief in neuralgia 
of the face. Most forms of neuralgia are relieved more promptly by 
electricity than by opium or any of its substitutes. The Mcintosh 
Family Battery does excellent service in these cases. The time to cure 
the disease is after the acute attack has passed off. Happy Home 
Blood Purifier and Health Tonic, alternated with quinine, when malaria 
is suspected, and electricity, will cure the majority of cases. Quinine 
will answer a better purpose taken in small doses and for a longer time 
than usual. One grain, repeated three times a day (at meal-time, for 
convenience in remembering), continued for fourteen days, omitted for 
seven days, and repeated for another period of fourteen days, will prove 
more effectual in neuralgia than larger doses taken for a few days only. 

Rheumatism. — This is one of the most common complaints 
that comes to the notice of the physician, and it is almost always self- 
infiicted — that is, it is due to wrong habits ; and,until these are corrected, 
the patient will continue to have attacks of the disease. It occurs in 
two forms, acute and chronic. 

Acute Articular Rheumatism is usually caused by exposure to cold 
or dampness, while the body is heated or fatigued ; but such exposure 
will not produce this disease unless the system is already in an un- 
healthy condition. The symptoms are fever, a profuse, sour-smelling, 
sweat, and inflammation of one or more joints, with pain, tenderness, 
great heat, swelling and redness of the skin. The fever is preceded 
by chilliness and shivering, followed by restlessness, and at the end of 
from twenty-four to thirty-six hours, by stiffness, with aching pain in 
the limbs or joints. The pain increases and the swelling appears, 
which is most apparent in the knee, wrist, elbow, ankle, and the smaller 
joints of the hands and feet. The pain becomes so intense that the 
slightest movement of the affected parts is attended with excruciating 
suffering, and the patient is perfectly helpless, keeping in one position 
as long as possible. Rheumatism moves from one part to another, but 
the most serious change is when it affects the membranes of the heart. 
The attack lasts about three weeks, under the best treatment, before 
convalescence begins, and sometimes much longer. It often passes at 
last into the chronic form, producing permanent changes in the affected 
joints. 



CHRONIC RHEUMATISM AND ITS TREATMENT. 245 

Chronic Rheumatism. — This generally comes on gradually, when 
not the result of the acute form, and is common among old people. 
There may be, at first, very slight disturbance; but the pain slowly in- 
creases, until there is constant, wearying pain, which destroys the com- 
fort during the day, and prevents restful sleep at night. Rheumatism 
started by exposure to damp, cold, or draughts, is relieved by warmth;, 
that due to a derangement of the digestive organs and secretions, to 
breathing bad air, or to a poison in the blood, is aggravated by warmth. 

Treatment — Any treatment which is successful in either acute or 
chronic rheumatism requires time, patience and common sense. The 
skin must be protected from chill — this is of the first importance; 
therefore, at all seasons, the patient suffering from this painful disor- 
der ought to be enveloped in flannel from head to foot, and in cold 
weather he should sleep between flannel sheets. The bowels may be 
regulated by Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills. Bicarbonate of soda, the 
same that is used with sour milk in cooking, is one of our best reme- 
dies, when the breath and perspiration have a sour odor and the tongue 
has a white coat, like a layer of paste. It may be given in doses of 
ten grains dissolved in a wine-glassful of water, repeated every one or 
two hours, according to the severity of the case, until the tongue be- 
gins to clean; then follow by Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health 
Tonic, given four times a day until fully restored. Should the tongue 
have a bright-red or purplish appearance, without the acid odor of the 
body, tincture of iron is called for in the place of the bi-carbonate of 
soda. As the tongue resumes its natural color, give the same remedy 
as in the other case. When the joints are very painful, the patient will 
be greatly relieved by washing the skin with hot water containing as 
much bi-carbonate of soda as it will dissolve, and afterward brushing 
over it Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. The joint should then 
be incased in a layer of carded wool (if this can not be had, substitute 
cotton batting or white wadding), and bandage as shown in the 
illustrations. (See Figs. 21 and 24.) 

The diet should be of the plainest description, and mostly veget- 
able. Fresh bread, hot cakes, mince pies, greasy food of any kind, 
whether as soup or roast, must not be indulged in by rheumatic pa- 
tients. Filtered soft water is one of the best remedies known for 
chronic rheumatism. It may be taken hot or cold, as preferred, but 
it is better not to have it merely warm. A pint is not too much for a 
dose, and should be taken about half an hour before breakfast. 



246 NEURALGIA AND RHEUMATISM OF THE HEART. 

Heart Disease. — There are two classes of disorders which 
affect the heart: the one is called functional, because there is nothing 
wrong with the heart itself — the nerves which control it produce the 
symptoms which excite alarm; the other class includes those affections 
accompanied by some change in the heart, and are comparatively rare. 
Among functional disorders, palpitation is the most common. It may 
be produced by excitement, by over- exertion, by indigestion, or by 
excessive fatigue. Prevention of an attack, by. removing the cause, is 
the preferable way to treat it. Obstructions to the circulation in any 
part of the body may react injuriously upon the heart, not only excit- 
ing palpitation, but damaging the valves or walls of that organ. 

Neuralgia of the heart is another functional disease, and causes 
intense suffering. The patient for a day or two complains of a dull 
aching in the region of the heart, with occasional sharp, piercing pains, 
which last but a moment. When fully developed, there is a most acute, 
cutting pain, passing from the left nipple backward to the spine, fre- 
quently running up the neck, down the left arm, and to other organs. 
The paroxysms of pain come on suddenly, lasting from a few minutes 
to an hour or more. The cause is such as produces neuralgia in other 

parts. 

Rheumatism of the heart occurs when the disease moves from 
other localities. Inflammation of the heart or its covering, enlarge- 
ment of heart, disease of the valves, are all preceded for some time 
by symptoms which should warn the sufferer to seek medical advice. 
Nothing is more common than to meet with patients who fear they 
have heart disease, but it is a rare circumstance to meet with one who 
actually has disease of the heart tissue or valves. Functional dis- 
turbances, however, when neglected and allowed to continue a long 
time, have been known to produce organic disease. The distress of 
mind occasioned by the feeling that one has a disease which is likely 
to terminate life without a moment's warning saps the energy, and 
unfits one for business. We recollect rending, not long since, of a man 
at a seaside resort, who saw a lady struggling in the water, in danger 
of drowning. The spectators were too frightened to assist her; at length 
this man exclaimed, "I can not see her drown; it is certain death to 
me, but I will try to save her," and he plunged in and swam to her 
rescue. In her struggles she nearly drew him under water, and it 
was by great exertion that he was enabled to keep her head above 
water until they could be rescued. As they reached the shore, and 






PALPITATION OF THE HEART. 247 

the crowd closed around them and began to praise hirn, he exclaimed, 
" Don't praise me — this experience is worth thousands to me! I was 
told I had heart disease, and that any sudden exertion would kill me. I 
have proven that it is not true, and I have a new lease of life." It is 
customary to announce in the newspapers, whenever a person dies 
suddenly, that heart disease is the cause. Any coroner can tell you 
that this is rarely true. The heart is made to last a life-time, and it is 
the last organ to give out, unless there exist exceptional causes, based 
upon a disregard of the simplest laws of health. Whenever a patient 
has the idea that the heart is becoming disabled, it is better, for many 
reasons, to go to a doctor noted for good judgment, and obtain his 
opinion. Do not trust this matter to irresponsible strangers, nor to a 
young physician just beginning to practice; select some one you know, 
and have known long enough to be certain that he is intelligent and 
reliable. It is worth more than it will cost, to know positively that 
you have no reason to fear, and if there should prove to be something 
wrong, you will be able to have more done to retard the advance of 
the disease than is possible at a later stage. 

Treatment. — Palpitation of the heart may be quickly relieved, as 
a rule, by one of the following medicines: Select the one that can 
be made ready first. 

1. Hoffmann's Anodyne, half a tea-spoonful in water; repeat 
every ten to fifteen minutes. 

2. Compound spirits of lavender; one tea- spoonful in water. 

3. Peppermint tea, prepared in this way: Mix one tea- spoonful 
of the essence or one drop of the oil with a little sugar and a pinch of 
bi-carbonate of soda in a tea-cup, rubbing them well together; then 
fill up the cup with boiling water, and drink as hot as it can be 
swallowed. 

Apply hot cloths over the spine from the neck to the lowest part 
of the shoulder-blades; a mustard paste may also be placed over the 
heart. The most important part of the treatment is to keep the 
patient quiet and free from excitement, and to this end persuade every 
one to leave the room except the nurse and such assistants as are actu- 
ally needed. Neuralgia of the heart is sometimes relieved by the same 
measures. Severe and long continued pain will often yield to ipecac 
given in doses to produce nausea. 

A hop poultice, or one made of poppies, laid over the heart gives 
comfort. A substitute for these is a flaxseed poultice covered with 



248 DROPSY, AND THE CONDITIONS CAUSING IT. 

cheese-cloth, on which is poured a fluid drachm or a small tea-spoonful 
of laudanum. A patient who has once had neuralgia or rheumatism 
leave other parts and affect the heart, on a recurrence of pain in 
other less dangerous parts, should avoid these and all other appli- 
cations that are liable to move the disease from its location. A physi- 
cian should be immediately summoned to direct the treatment. After 
the attack has passed by, and the patient is restored to usual health, 
attention should be directed towards an improvement in excretion. 
Exercise in the open air, a plain, nutritious diet, correct and regular 
habits, together with daily doses of Happy Home Blood Purifier and 
Health Tonic are the best measures to secure future immunity from 
these and all other functional disorders of the heart. 

Dropsy. — This disease may be divided into active and passive 
forms. The former usually follows fevers or inflammations, or appears 
during their progress. It is very frequent after scarlet fever, and may 
result from arrested excretions of skin and kidneys. The skin will be 
dry and harsh, the urine scanty and dark colored, the bowels consti- 
pated, the tongue coated with loss of appetite and headache. The 
fluid may accumulate in the cellular tissue, or within the cavities of 
the sacs inclosing the heart, or lungs, or intestines. 

Passive dropsy comes on after prolonged debility, during which 
the blood has become of poor quality and the tissues lax, permitting 
the serum or watery portion of the blood to pass through them more 
readily than usual. Great loss of blood from any cause, exhaustive 
diarrhcea, or any profuse discharge which acts as a drain upon the 
blood, impairs its quality, or thins it, and tends to bring on dropsy. 
Unwholesome diet, and that which is of poor quality and not sufficiently 
varied, makes thin, watery blood. Dropsies among the very poor are 
often due to such diet. Disease of the heart which interferes with the 
circulation, after it has existed a long time, may give rise to dropsy. 
It usually comes on slowly, making its first appearance as a puffiness of 
the face and hands, most noticeable in the morning, and swelling of 
the feet, which is greatest at night. Water also collects in the chest 
and abdomen. These symptoms alone do not mean that the heart is 
diseased, for inaction of the kidneys produces the same set of symptoms. 
It is only when the dropsical swellings have been preceded by palpita- 
tions, pain and oppression in the region of the heart on taking exercise, 
and other unmistakable signs of heart disease that we are safe in con- 
cluding that the dropsy is dependent upon this condition. Dropsy not 



SCKOFTJLA, OE KING'S EVIL. 249 

unfrequently orignates in disease of the liver, the stomach and the 
spleen. Dropsy following protracted cases of fever and ague is almost 
invariably due to disease of liver or spleen. The most troublesome 
cases of dropsy met with are those associated with dyspepsia. It is 
obvious, then, that dropsy may be properly regarded as a symptom 
rather than an independent disease, and the condition upon which it 
depends must first be treated before we can hope to permanently 
remove the accumulations of fluid. 

Treatment. — Seek for the cause, and give the remedies recom- 
mended for it, whatever it may be. The bowels must be unloaded and 
kept slightly relaxed. Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills in carthartic, 
followed by laxative, doses keep the intestinal canal in a favorable con- 
dition for the removal of all obstructions to the circulation. After the 
bowels are thoroughly cleared out — not before — the action of the kidneys 
may be stimulated. Bathe the back over the kidneys with Uncle Sam's 
Liniment, and apply over the surface hot flannel. Give internally one 
of the following teas: Take one-half ounce of broom (scoparius) 
tops, and one pint of soft water; boil down to half a pint. Dose, one 
ounce every three hours. The fluid extract of broom may be given in 
half- dram doses, when the tops can not be had. A tea made from 
water-melons seeds is • sometimes of service ; another which can be 
recommended is made from parched flaxseed. Some patients will 
improve on one, others on another remedy; therefore, if one fails to do 
any good after trying it twenty-four hours, use another. The follow- 
ing is excellent, but very disagreeable to the taste : Take acetate of pot- 
ash one-half ounce, sweet spirits of nitre and tincture of juniper, of 
each one fluid ounce; water, two fluid ounces. Mix. Give one tea- 
spoonful every two or three hours. A good tonic remedy, like Happy 
Home Blood Purifier, should be given after the swelling is re- 
moved, provided it be suitable for the disorder which causes the 
dropsy. Nutritious food, aids to digestion, pure air and out- door exer- 
cise, according to the strength, are valuable measures, and ought not 
to be neglected. 

Scrofula (King's ,Evil).— This disease is found in all coun- 
tries and among all classes of people. It shows itself under many 
different forms, and it is extremely difficult to give any description 
that will convey a clear idea of its varying symptoms, or enable the 
inexperienced to recognize it. There appears to be some deficiency in 
the blood of scrofulous patients, but just what this is no one has been 



250 RICKETS, A DISORDER OF CHILDHOOD. 

able to discover. The disease manifests itself by feeble vitality, and 
all the processes of life are carried on slowly and defectively. The 
glands, especially those about the neck and under the arms, are subject 
to enlargement. They ulcerate slowly and are very difficult to cure, 
sometimes continuing to discharge pus for months. Scrofulous 
children often have defective bones, and are more liable than others to 
spinal and hip disease. They need special treatment from infancy 
and childhood to overcome the constitutional disorder. 

Treatment. — Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills and Happy Home Blood 
Purifier are two important remedies to be employed to promote excre- 
tion and stimulate the nervous and circulatory system; in other words, 
to increase the activity of the nutrient and absorbent vessels upon 
which body-building depends. Uncle Sam's Liniment is an excellent 
application to enlarged and ulcerating glands. 

Most important of all measures is a well-ventilated sleeping 
apartment and a separate bed. A scrofulous child should not be 
placed in a trundle bed in the bed-room with its parents. It ought to 
begin at a very early age to play out of doors and in the sun, when 
not too hot. It should have regular meals and be persuaded to eat 
fat in some form, either as butter, cream or good bacon. Usually 
these little patients refuse all fatty food — then cod- liver oil is called 
for. Molasses, syrup and honey are the best substitute for oils or fat, 
but they do not quite answer the purpose. Do not be in a hurry to 
send such a child to school. The foul air of the school-room, together 
with the exposure to colds and enforced quiet; are sufficient to counter- 
act the best home management. It is more important in early life to 
secure a vigorous constitution than an education, for the latter can be 
obtained at any age, while the foundation for good health must be 
laid in childhood. Medicines alone can accomplish little unless aided 
by baths, exercise, ventilation and a plentiful supply of nourishing 
food, varied in character to furnish all the elements needed in body- 
building. 

RickGtS is a disorder of the general system which leads to 
softening of the bones. It is especially a disease of infancy, com- 
monly appearing between the third and fourth months; occasionally 
the child is affected with it at birth, and again, it does not make its 
appearance until childhood. It is more frequently seen among the 
poor who suffer from deficient nourishment, and among those who live 
in damp, shaded places. The symptoms develop slowly, and are not at 



DISEASE OF THE HIP-JOINTS. 251 

first recognized. The child appears unusually quiet, does not wish to 
move or be moved, suffers from pain in the bones during the night, 
also when handled, crying out whenever it is touched or moved. There 
is some fever, followed by sweating, pale or sallow face, imperfect di- 
gestion, diarrhoea and gradual loss of flesh. The bones become un- 
able to support the parts dependent upon them and bend out of shape ;. 
the joints enlarge, while the portion between them remains very 
slender. The teeth appear late and soon begin to fall out; the head 
enlarges, and the opening on the top is very slow in closing. There 
are all degrees of the disease, from that which slightly changes the 
form or curves the limbs to the most extreme deformity, including 
hunchback. It can be said with certainty that a child has rickets only 
when the limbs become painful and begin to curve ; when the teeth 
are very late in coming and imperfect; when the joints are enlarged; 
when the top of the skull remains open. Such patients have small 
mental capacity, deficient muscular force, and are diminutive in size 
compared with other members of the family to which they belong. 

Treatment. — The general measures recommended for scrofula are 
equally valuable in rickets. The painful joints and bones may be 
bathed with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment; the restlessness 
and pain may be quieted by Dr. Winchell's Teething Syrup. Certain 
elements, supposed to be deficient in the blood, are supplied by the 
acid phosphates, hypophosphite of lime, and iron. The diet is of more 
importance than anything else, except open air exercise. Fresh eggs, 
fresh fish, vegetables and milk are the chief articles of food required, 
but a plentiful supply of these is not all that is necessary; while the 
tissues of the body can not be woven smooth and strong without them^ 
they must undergo preparation before they are 'ready to be used in the 
weaving; in other words, digestion must be specially looked after, for 
it is always weak and frequently defective in those suffering from 
rickets. Happy Home Blood Purifier is the best corrective of imper- 
fect digestion. 

Hip Disease. — This malady usually affects those under fifteen 
years of age, occasionally those who are older. Blows, sprains, and sitting 
on cold stones or damp ground, are some of the causes which give rise to 
it. It begins by an apparent increase in the length of the limb, while the 
toes turn outward more than before; there is slight pain in the knee, 
which is usually bent, and the child walks with a limping or shuffling 
gait, treading only on the toes of the affected limb. It is first sup- 



252 HYGIENE OF THE TEETHING PERIOD. 

posed by the parents that the trouble is in the knee; but, on examining 
the hip-joint, it will be found that pressing upon the head of the thigh- 
bone gives pain. At this time the patient should be placed under the 
care of a competent surgeon; for the only treatment which can be of 
any service in lessening the amount of injury that will follow, is early 
surgical treatment. Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic, 
given for two or three months, to improve the appetite and digestion, 
with nutritious food, of which milk should form a large part, will 
greatly assist the measures which the surgeon will recommend. 

Teething. — Healthy nursing infants, and those that are given 
no other food than milk, or some of the materials specially prepared 
as substitutes for milk, seldom have any difficulty in cutting their 
teeth. The nervous system of a child is necessarily very active, 
because it not only directs the nutrition, but must prepare the means 
of growth and development; irritation which will produce but little 
effect upon a grown person will prove very exciting to a child. It is 
customary to attribute almost every illness of infancy to the teeth; 
there never was a greater mistake, or one fraught with more danger 
to the young. The mother, assured by her friends that she must 
expect all kinds of infantile ailments during this period, accepts them 
as inevitable, instead of seeking the source of the irritation, and 
removing it. Nine times out of ten the disorders of teething are due 
to dyspepsia. The child is too often fed without any system; there- 
fore, at the risk of being considered tedious, and, perhaps, charged 
with repetition, we again enumerate the conditions which will enable 
little ones blessed with a healthy constitution to pass through the 
dreaded ordeal of teething with the least possible inconvenience. 

1. Regularity in feeding should be the rule, from the time the 
infant begins to eat. Nursing it once in three hours, for at least three 
months, and after that every four hours. Bottle-fed babies need the 
same intervals of rest between meals. 

2. Food adapted to the incompletely developed digestive organs. 
Mother's milk, or, rather, the milk of healthy mothers, is the only 
diet needed until the teeth begin to appear. Those who are nursing 
infants ought to eat nourishing, hearty food, to make rich and whole- 
some milk. Beer and liquors of any kind are believed by a great 
many women to be actually necessary "to make milk." The milk 
from a still- fed cow is justly regarded as unfit for infants' food; and 



FOOD AND BATHS FOE TEETHING INFANTS. 253 

what reason have we to believe the milk from a beer-drinking woman 
is any better for the young? 

It is a pity that so many excellent people are so badly taught. 
If you will read over the chapter describing the elements of food, 
you will understand what is needed to make good milk. 

3. The Milk Must be Free from Injurious Elements. — Nursing 
women ought to be careful in the selection of their diet. Articles 
which disagree with their stomach will injure the milk, often making 
it acid; onions, boiled cabbage, and some other " strong-tasting " 
vegetables give an unpleasant flavor to it ; excitement, such as violent 
anger, grief, fear, etc., under some circumstances, make milk actually 
poisonous. Bottle-fed babies run the most risk from unclean nursing- 
bottles. The soft rubber tubing usually employed absorbs the gases 
formed in milk as it is turning sour, and after a short time becomes 
filled not only with them, but with particles of milk, in which bacteria 
grow freely. This is a frequent and often unsuspected cause of sore 
mouth. Simple washing or soaking in water can not cleanse it. Bi- 
carbonate of soda and good soap in the water in which it is washed 
is much better than water alone; but nursing bottles containing rubber 
tubing ought to be abolished. There is now in the market a style of 
bottle having a screw-cap to attach a rubber nipple to the neck of the 
bottle; this may be removed for cleaning, and is in every way more 
desirable than the old style. New rubber nipples should be provided 
frequently. The milk from cows supplied with impure drinking 
water, and those fed on swill and garbage is unfit for infants. 

4 Nursing infants, as well as bottle-fed babies, frequently need 
a drink of water. Fretfulness is often quieted immediately by a cool 
drink, and little ones suffer more than is generally suspected, in con- 
sequence of the almost universal belief that they need nothing but 
milk to quench thirst. 

5. Baths for cleanliness are sufficient for cold weather. By this we 
mean that the whole body need be bathed only when it is dirty. The 
parts that are soiled by the excretions should be washed each time 
before applying a clean diaper. Use clean, warm, soft water and a 
soft cloth; wipe perfectly dry and dust with powder, corn-starch, etc. 
Chafing comes from leaving the skin moist; when very troublesome, 
Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment, used sparingly, is an excel- 
lent emollient to soothe inflammation and heal the skin. During hot 
weather an infant needs frequent baths, to keep it cool; it will often 



254 SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE CARE OF INFANTS. 

quiet a fretful, restless child, and give it a comfortable night's rest to 
bathe it in tepid water at bed- time. Heat eruption, " prickly heat " 
on the skin is very distressing, because it is accompanied by a dry, 
stinging heat, with intense itching; one table-spoonful of vinegar in 
one pint of water used as a bath relieves the itching; when the child 
is very fretful from this cause, remove the clothing, and rub the skin 
with the dry hand over the whole surface covered by the rash. 

6. Infants Need Clean Garments and Bedding. — It is wonderful 
how strongly the germ of life is implanted in their frail, helpless, little 
bodies. We are impressed anew with this fact when we see them not 
only living, but apparently vigorous, although placed in the most 
filthy surroundings. Many people who would be very indignant at any 
hint that they are lacking in cleanliness, think nothing of allowing a 
delicate, sensitive child to sleep in a crib with bedding and covering 
soiled with urine, and smelling most abominably. The diapers, too, 
when wet with urine, are hung by the stove to dry without rinsing in 
water; the result is, that they are not only stiff and harsh, but injurious 
to the child — for we repeat again ichatever is thrown off from the body 
is a poison to it until it has undergone transformation in the laboratory 
of Nature. This unsuspected source of poisoning causes many a fever 
of a malarial type. 

7. Infants Need Sleep and Quiet. — It is a mistake to handle them 
as much as is customary among Americans. After eating they natu- 
rally sleep when they are well; when prevented from doing this by 
doting parents, or by thoughtless older children, it reacts injuriously 
upon their nervous system. Mothers who make martyrs of themselves 
by training their little ones to expect constant attention injure them, 
and wear themselves out uselessly. Violent rocking injures the baby, 
who is really better off in a bed that can not be rocked or rolled 
about. 

8. Sleeping Infants Ought to be Laid out of the Way of Drafts. — 
Never set the cradle between two doors that are liable to be opened 
while baby is asleep; neither should it be placed in front of an open 
window. Many serious colds originate from a neglect of this pre- 
caution. 

9. Teething Children Need Somethiny Hard to Bite. — As soon as 
the gum feels hard and swollen, showing that the tooth is pushing out- 
ward, the child should be given a piece of ivory, or a hard polished 
stick to bite on; a ring will not answer except for the front teeth, and 



DISEASES OF THE SKIN. 255 

soft rubber is unfit for the purpose. The object must be too large to 
swallow, and of a shape to fit the gum; biting on a hard substance 
helps the tooth through, and relieves some of the irritation. Teething,, 
divested of all the accompanying evils alluded to above, becomes a 
trifling affair compared with the grave troubles which beset the little 
unfortunates who have not the benefit of suitable hygienic care. We 
have been hitherto considering the case of those originally possessed of 
sound constitutions. There are multitudes of little ones born into the 
world, who, for one reason and another, are of defective organization. 
Drink, vice, unsanitary homes and bad habits are responsible for it. 
Good care and the best of nourishment are needed to overcome, so far 
as may be done, their natural defects. To this class teething is 
full of peril. Their hold upon life is frail at best; and any irri- 
tation, however slight, produces a serious impression upon them. 
Naturally strong, healthy infants will often survive the most extreme 
neglect and bad management; but the class of which we are now 
speaking must be guarded with all the care we have suggested, or 
their little lives will go out some time during the first two years of 
their struggle for existence. 

Treatment. — The disorders of teething include nearly every com- 
plaint common to the young. The remedies must be selected accord- 
ing to the special conditions present in each case. Sore mouth, sour 
stomach, canker, and diarrhoea are relieved by Dr. Winchell's Teething 
Syrup. It will save much anxiety, to keep a bottle of this incompara- 
ble children's medicine in the house, because it is beneficial in nearly 
all the slight ailments which give rise to fretfulness, restlessness and 
pain. Catnip tea quiets the nerves, and helps a fretful child to sleep. 
A little patient who wants to be carried all the time, and has one cheek 
red and the other pale, will be helped by chamomile tea; colic pain needs 
peppermint; scanty, burning urine calls for a tea made from water-melon 
seeds or spearmint. Herb teas for children ought not to be made too 
strong; they should be pleasant to the taste, and sweetened with loaf- 
sugar or honey ; in cases where the stomach becomes sour very easily, 
these teas agree better when sweetened with glycerine. 

Diseases Of the Skin. — The skin is affected with a great 
variety of disorders, some of which give rise to no danger, while others 
are capable of destroying life. Some are attended by fever, and run a 
rapid course; others are chronic, and yield but slowly to any treatment ;.. 
-some are contagious, others are not. Some are propagated by con- 



256 PIMPLES, SCALY DISORDERS AND RASHES. 

tact or from the effluvia of the sick, of which scarlet fever and small- 
pox are examples; others from want of cleanliness. Disease of the 
blood, arrest of secretion, and parasites all produce eruptions upon the 
skin. The principal ones may be included in eight classes: 

1. Papulce, or pimples — little elevations of the cuticle of red 
color, and not containing fluid. Many who eat freely of buckwheat 
cakes, hickory -nuts, or " greasy food have their faces disfigured by 
pimples. Some toilet soaps irritate the skin and produce these erup- 
tions. 

Treatment. — Use Happy Home Blood Purifier, bathe the entire 
body frequently; bathe the face each night with this lotion, after 
washing off the dust. Mix half a drachm of powdered alum with four 
ounces of rose water. When the alum is dissolved it is ready for use. 
Do not wash it off, but carefully dry the face with a soft cloth, and 
afterward anoint it with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. This 
will make the skin soft and fair. 

2. Squamae, or scales. These are small, hard, thickened, whitish 
patches of unhealthy cuticle. They are easily removed, but form again. 
Dandruff is an example of this, but it is not uncommon to see a scaly 
eruption on other parts of the body. 

Treatment. — The surface affected with a scaly eruption does not 
permit local applications to pass through to the diseased surface, unless 
the scales are first removed. This is done in various ways, according 
to the location of the eruption. Glycerine will soften the scales, after 
which they may be removed with castile soap and water. To heal the 
surface, there is nothing better than Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Lini- 
ment. After the preliminary washing do not apply soap and water 
again, but cleanse the surface with the Liniment, using a piece of lint 
or absorbent cotton to avoid rubbing off the fibrine thrown out to form 
new skin. 

3. Exanthemata, or rashes, superficial red patches, varying in 
size and intensity, and disappearing under the pressure of the finger; 
erysipelas, scarlet-fever rash and measles are examples. The most of 
the disorders belonging to this class we have described separately. 
There are a few forms which are unaccompanied by fever, and arise 
from some irritation of the digestive organs that may be treated like 
erythema. This appears in raised red patches, of different sizes, on 
the face, the chest or the limbs. The redness disappears on pressure, 
but returns as soon as pressure is removed. It lasts from a few hours 



TREATMENT OF BULLAE AND PUSTULES. 257 

to several weeks, disappearing only when the cause that gave rise to it 
is removed. 

Treatment. — Give Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills to regulate the 
bowels, which are nearly always disordered; follow it by Happy Home 
Blood Purifier, and bathe the spots with Uncle Sam's Bone and Nerve 
Liniment. Kegulate the diet and eat at regular intervals. 

4. Bullce, also called blebs, are small blisters. A form of ery- 
sipelas belongs to this class, but this eruption is usually of less con- 
sequence than erysipelas. The latter has been described in another 
place. Ordinary bullae may be treated as described for erythema. 

5. Pustules, small elevations of the cuticle, containing a fluid, 
usually clear and colorless at first, but becoming afterward opaque 
and yellowish. The small-pox eruption begins in the form of pus- 
tules. 

Treatment. — Pustules, accompanied by fever, need special manage- 
ment, according to the disorder which gives rise to them. When un- 
accompanied by fever they indicate impure blood or nervous irritation. 
The cause must be discovered, and removed before the eruption will 
improve. It may be a poorly ventilated sleeping-room ; the presence 
of gas from sewers or drains; or, what is equally injurious, a vessel of urine, 
which fills the air of the room with its emanations. Late hours and 
habits, which irritate and weaken the nerves, are very frequently re- 
vealed by the appearance of a pustular eruption upon the face. The 
diet may be at fault; it may not be sufficiently varied, or it may con- 
tain too large a proportion of starch and sweets. The question as to 
whether a given food is digestible or not, can not be determined from 
diet lists; it depends upon the stomach that is to do the work. There 
are peculiarities of constitution, which we can not account for, that 
makes " one man's meat another man's poison." We have seen persons 
who were troubled with belching acid gases from the stomach, with 
weight and uneasiness from a plain diet of bread, meat and potatoes, 
who could take a quantity of rich fruit cake, ordinarily regarded as 
very indigestible, without any symptoms of indigestion. We have also 
known a strong, healthy person who could not eat eggs or anything 
containing them without a violent attack of illness following; the same 
thing occurred when food was eaten away from home, and without a 
suspicion on the part of the eater that it contained eggs. Selection of 
diet, then, must depend largely upon individual judgment. In the 
case of a pustular eruption a change in diet must be made, and vege- 



258 REMEDIES FOB IVY POISONING. 

tables be eaten when meat has been the principal food, or vice versa. 
Happy Home Blood Purifier will remove the morbid elements from the 
blood As soon as pus forms and the top of the pustule looks white, it 
ought to be opened to prevent a scar. 

G. Vesicles. — These are small elevations containing a fluid that 
is at first clear and watery, but later becomes pearly white; salt- rheum, 
or eczema, is usually of this form on its first appearance. Some of 
the vesicular eruptions are temporary, and will disappear without treat- 
ment. This is true when caused by slight disturbance of digestion, or 
from eating food that disagrees. Shell-fish will produce this eruption 
in some people whenever they eat it. A severe eruption of vesicles 
is produced by poison ivy, poison sumac, and some other wild wood 
vegetation. 

Treatment — Vesicular eruptions, caused by the vegetable poisons, 
should be treated locally by alkaline solutions. Some of the prepara- 
tions which have proven useful are these : 

(1.) Bi-carbonate of soda, one tea- spoonful dissolved in cold, soft 
water, and applied on soft, linen cloths, wrung out and laid on the skin. 
These should be renewed often. 

(2.) Borax, a lump the size of a small hickory nut, dissolved in a 
pint of soft water, and applied as No. 1. 

(3.) Carbolic acid, five per cent, solution, one fluid drachm; sul- 
phite of soda, three drachms; soft water, six fluid ounces. Mix ; ap- 
ply by bathing the surface with the solution, using a bit of absorbent 
cotton or lint. Do not use the same piece twice. Repeat every hour. 

(4) Apply tincture of lobelia in the same way as No. 3. 

The treatment for vesicular eruptions, which arise from internal 
causes, requires a constitutional remedy, like Happy Home Blood Puri- 
fier and Health Tonic, continued, in obstinate cases, for several months. 
Greasy and salty food should be avoided; the diet should be plain and 
free from condiments or other stimulants. Look well to ventilation of 
the sleeping apartment, which will almost always be found deficient. 
Bathe the eruption as little as possible— yet it must be kept clean. 
Mild soap, like castile, and only a little of that should be used. After 
washing apply Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment, which cleanses, 
relieves itching, and heals. 

7. Tubercles. — These are very small, hard pimples or tumors, 
which are frequently of the same color as the skin. They show an 
unhealthy condition of the system, with the presence of scrofula or 



LOTIONS TO REMOVE LIVER AND MOTH SPOTS. 259 

other blood disease. Their appearance in an old person sometimes 
precede cancer of the skin. 

Treatment. — No external application ought to be made until after 
thoroughly cleansing the blood. Medicines act slowly in removing the 
morbid material which lies at the foundation of tubercular eruptions; 
therefore, they must be continued for some months. The diet should 
be made more nutritious or more varied; it should be decidedly changed 
to make" it more animal or vegetable in character, with a view to sup- 
ply deficient elements of food. It ought to be as different as possible 
from that to which the patient is accustomed. Uncle Sam's Liniment 
makes a good application to subdue any inflammation or irritation that 
may arise in the eruption. Should it develop a tendency to cancer, 
consult your family physician and such counsel as he may suggest; but, 
as you value your comfort and your safety, to say nothing of your 
money, avoid professional cancer doctors. 

8. Maculae are spots or patches differing in color from the skin; 
they include freckles, " moth spots," " liver stains," etc. Freckles and 
some large, mothy or yellow spots are caused by the action of the sun 
upon the skin, and, of course, do not need medicine administered in- 
ternally for their removal. Peroxide of hydrogen lotion, when per- 
fectly fresh, will remove them, and is harmless. At bed-time soak the 
spots with it, using bits of absorbent cotton for the purpose. It loses 
its strength when exposed to light or air, and when it comes into con- 
tact with dirt of any kind; therefore, when it is to be applied, pour 
out just what is needed in a suitable receptacle, and immediately cork 
the bottle again. A preparation of two ounces of lemon juice, half a 
drachm of powdered borax and one drachm of sugar will remove 
freckles. Mix the ingredients together; let the mixture stand a few 
days in a vial, then rub the face occasionally with it. There is a species 
of " moth spot " which appears most extensively upon parts covered by 
clothing, and especially the breast. It is caused by a minute fungus, 
a parasite which grows upon the skin. 

Treatment for Parasitic Moth Spot. — Let your druggist prepare a 
solution containing one grain of corrosive sublimate, dissolved in two 
ounces of soft water. Paint the spots twice a day with this, using a 
camel's hair brush to apply it. All clothing should be changed for 
that which ha3 not been worn since being washed, lest some spores of 
the fungus remain attached to the clothing to start the disease afresh. 
This same lotion is useful for yellow liver spots and ring-worm. Should 



260 THE ITCH AND ITS TEEATMENT. 

the skin become irritated by it, omit for a day or two, and use Uncle 
Sam's Liniment to soothe it. The colored spots, which arise from 
constitutional causes, require Happy Home Blood Purifier to remove 
from the blood the impure matter which stains the skin. 

Scabies, Or Itch. — This disease is due to a minute insect, which 
burrows in the skin, and is conveyed from one person to another by 
touch and by the clothing. Mothers are well aware of the facility with 
which this disorder is spread among school children. The first sign of 
the presence of the itch insect is a vesicular eruption, usually appear- 
ing between the fingers, in the bend of the elbows and under the arms. 
It gradually extends over a large portion of the body, when allowed to 
go on without treatment. Some families are reluctant to believe their 
children have itch, and insist upon giving a constitutional remedy. All 
internal medicine is worse than useless, for anything capable of pro- 
ducing a medical effect is capable of disordering the healthy organs, 
when given unnecessarily. A child who is observed to be frequently 
scratching the skin in the localities where the itch insect is commonly 
found, should be carefully examined. Sharp eyes can sometimes 
detect, without the aid of a magnifying glass, a very fine line connect- 
ing the vesicles ; this is the pathway burrowed by the insect. 

Treatment. — Obtain from your druggist, (1) a lotion consisting of 
two drachms sulphuret of potassium (liver of sulphur) dissolved in four 
fluid ounces of soft water; (2) an ointment made by mixing half a 
drachm of the sulphuret with one ounce of lard, with enough oil of 
anise added to conceal the disagreeable smell. Remove all the cloth- 
ing from the patient, and bathe every part of the skin, not forgetting 
hair, with the lotion, using a soft cloth or sponge that should afterward 
be burned At the spots where eruption is greatest soak with the lotion, 
that it may penetrate to the insect. Let the patient be clad in freshly 
washed garments, and do not allow anything that was worn with the 
itch to be put on until it has been washed, or subjected to steam heat 
for some time. At bed-time, each night for a week, anoint the 
body from head to foot with the ointment, using it very sparingly. 
This is a certain cure for this most disagreeable affection. Any irrita- 
tion produced by the ointment will be healed by Uncle Sam's Nerve 
and Bone Liniment. 

Lice. — There are several varieties of lice which infest human 
beings. One specimen lives in the hair, and is almost always found 



LICE HIVES, OR SHINGLES. 261 

among the children in the school-room. Another variety inhabits the 
arm-pits and groins; still another hides in the seams of the clothes, 
where it deposits its eggs, and makes a raid upon the body for its food. 
It is quite. important to know this peculiarity; otherwise, it is impos- 
sible to rid one's self of them. Lice are most troublesome to those of 
filthy habits, and if they remained with such people there would be little 
reason to complain; but, unfortunately, they swarm away from their 
original home, and linger on the cushions of street-cars, in railway 
cars, in omnibuses, on hotel sheets and blankets, until some one comes 
along who is free from them, and they then seek a new home. The 
wretched tramp, filthy and unfit for contact with decent, self-respect- 
ing people, in this free country, has a perfect right to go anywhere that 
anyone goes — strewing his filth, his vermin, and his diseases where they 
may reach the undefiled. For this reason those of most scrupulous 
neat habits can not always be certain that they are free from lice, and 
when attacked by spells of itching, for which there is no discoverable 
cause, should examine for parasites. 

Treatment. — The best application for the heads of school children, 
which is both effective and harmless, is made as follows : Boil old or 
ripe potatoes with the skins on; pour off the water, which is green in 
color when of suitable strength. Wash the head thoroughly with this, 
wetting the hair to the end when long; use no soap, and let the lotion 
dry without rinsing off. The next day the head may be washed as 
usual; the lice and nits are both killed by this plan, and with less 
inconvenience than by any other. No living insect will be left if the 
work be well done. Should any escape, a repetition of this treatment 
will destroy them. Mercurial ointment is extensively used for destroy- 
ing lice; it is very effectual, but needs to be used cautiously to prevent 
sore mouth or other evil effects of mercury ; it is very undesirable for 
school children, as they are liable to take cold, which must be avoided 
when mercury is used. This ointment may be used in the arm -pits and 
groins for body lice, and there should be a complete change of clothing 
after applying it. 

Hives, also called shingles, come out as red blotches, resembling 
the eruption produced by insect bites. They may affect any part, but 
usually appear below the waist, encircling one-half the body. There 
is a superstitious idea afloat that, if they should make a complete 
circle, the patient will die. We never heard of an instance where this 
happened. A blister forms on the top of each blotch, which fills with 



262 KING WORM SCALD-HEAD. 

a pearly gray fluid that dries up, making a scab, which finally falla 
off, leaving the skin beneath sound. It takes about ten days for the 
eruption to run its course, but sometimes fresh crops of blotches come 
out as one set is disappearing, and in this way the disease may be kept up 
a long time. The itching, burning sensation may be allayed by bathing 
with vinegar and water, and afterward dusting the surface with violet 
powder or arrowroot. Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment is the 
most soothing and healing application that can be made. Internally, 
Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic is needed. 

Ring- Worm begins with circular, reddish patches, slightly 
raised above the skin, and covered with fine dust-like scales; these 
patches vary from one-sixth of an inch to two inches in diameter. 
They give rise to intense itching and tingling. The treatment is the 
same as recommended for hives. Sometimes the eruption proves very 
obstinate; in that case paint it with tincture of iodine once a day, 
until it begins to peel ; then heal with the liniment, as recommended 
for hives. 

Scald-Head (Honeycomb Ring-Worm) is a disease 

caused by a parasite. The scalp is covered with small, round, bright 
yellow, dry crusts, with a cup-like depression in the center, through 
which one or more hairs pass. They are easily removed, and beneath 
them will be seen a shining, red, hollow spot, which quickly fills with 
another crust. No medicine can penetrate this surface until it is soft- 
ened by a poultice. Slippery elm makes a good one for this purpose. 
Wash the scalp with carbolized water and castile soap ; then, with a clean 
sponge or a roll of absorbent cotton, sop the affected spot with a solution 
of corrosive sublimate (one grain to two ounces) ; do this slowly, to allow 
it to penetrate the parasite; then dress with Uncle Sam's Nerve and 
Bone Liniment. This disease is usually found in scrofulous, illy- 
nourished patients; therefore, they need an improved diet, and Happy 
Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic. 

Boils are small tumors, which begin as red, angry-looking pimples, 
and are very painful from the start. They vary in size, from the 
"cat boil," which is no larger than an ordinary pimple, to the size of 
a walnut. The center is usually pointed at first, but sinks as the swell- 
ing increases, until the top is flat with a puckered center. The skin 
ulcerates, and pus streaked with blood runs out; two or three days later 
a solid mass of yellowish matter separates to form a core, which must 



BOILS AND CAEBUNCLES TKEATMENT. ZOO 

be pressed out. Boils which receive no treatment usually last fourteen 
days, and often come in crops, and may appear on any part of the body. 
They are produced in the effort of Nature to throw off or relieve the 
body of some impurity. 

Treatment. — The first thing to be done is to secure regularity of 
the bowels, which are almost always constipated at the time boils ap- 
pear. Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills are unequaled in bringing about 
natural action. They should be followed by Happy Home Blood 
Purifier and Health Tonic, and this remedy should be continued for a 
week or two after the last boil has disappeared. Imperfect action of 
the kidneys, and particularly that condition in which there is sugar in 
the urine, often gives rise to a succession of boils, attended with great 
debility. Such patients should have, in addition to the Happy Home 
Remedy, acetate of potash, in doses of half a tea-spoonful dissolved in 
lemonade, four times a day, and tincture of iron, ten to fifteen drops in 
water, three times a day. We repeat the caution to rinse the teeth 
with soda and water after taking iron, to protect them from injury. 
Poultices hasten the softening of the core. The most ancient poultice 
that we read of was made of figs, and was applied to a boil when Heze- 
kiah was " sick unto death" — and he recovered. Flaxseed meal or 
slippery elm bark, ground fine, make a good poultice. Directions for 
making poultices will be found in the Appendix. 

Carbuncle. — This may be considered a severe form of a boil, 
from which it differs in having no core, and in having several outlets 
for the pus, giving it a honeycomb appearance. It also has a ten- 
dency to spread if not kept carefully cleansed. It is preceded by loss 
of appetite, foul tongue, a feeling of weariness, headache and shivering. 
It begins as a pimple, gradually grows larger, while the skin around it 
becomes very sensitive, hot, and of a dark-red color. There is dull 
aching pain, sometimes of a severe throbbing character; but the pain 
is not as great as in a boil. Carbuncles vary in size from half an inch 
to six or seven inches, and are most frequently situated about the nape 
of the neck, or between the shoulders, although they may occur on 
any part of the body. Men have them twice as often as women; in 
aged people and those of feeble constitution, they sometimes cause 
death. 

Treatment. — A severe but efficacious method of dealing with a 
carbuncle is to apply pounded ice and salt for about five minutes, to 
deaden the sensitiveness; then press upon the top of it with a stick of 



264 



FELONS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



lunar caustic, touching every part and pressing it into the holes, to 
thoroughly cauterize the whole tumor. After this apply a charcoal 
or carbolized linseed meal poultice. Renew it every four to six hours, 
according to the degree of inflammation present. It must not remain 
long enough to dry up; on removing it cleanse the sore carefully, using 
for this purpose a solution of permanganate of potash (twenty grains 
to the ounce). If at any time the carbuncle begins to smart and burn, 
or becomes more than ordinary painful, sprinkle thickly over it dry 
iodoform, and cover with absorbent cotton. The poultice ought not to 
be used when it is in this condition. Internally the patient needs 
Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic; and in addition, when 
the pain is severe or the loss of strength is rapid, give one of the fol- 
lowing powders every four hours. Let your druggist prepare them; 
combining two grains of quinine with one-eighth grain of morphine in 
each powder, pulverized liquorice may be added to cover the taste, if 
preferred. Since carbuncles occur only in those of broken down 
health, nourishment is needed, and it must be given often. The diet 
recommended for consumption is a good one. Milk, custards, ice 
cream, kumiss, buttermilk, raw or slightly cooked eggs, prepared beef 
(see Appendix, under "Rennet"), game, fresh fish, are desirable articles 
for such patients. 

PelOHS usually appear near the end of the fingers. There is at 
first a sharp, stinging pain, which is supposed to be caused by a sliver, 
but none can be found. A little later the affected part begins to swell, 
the pain and heat increases, and very soon pus forms; when this col- 
lects beneath the tendon, there is danger that the bone will become 
diseased. 

Treatment. — Give internally a brisk cathartic dose of Eilert's Day- 
light Liver Pills. There are many external applications recommended, 
among which these may be named: 

1. Throw a handful of wood-ashes in a quart of soft water, set it 
on the stove, and hold the finger in it while it is being heated as hot as 
can be borne; soak it not less than half an hour — then poultice. 

2. Moisten the point where the sticking pain is felt, and press 
upon it a stick of lunar caustic until the skin turns gray in color. 
Poultice it until ready to open. If the caustic increases the pain, wash 
the finger in salt and water. 

3. Take a very thin, sharp knife and make a cut down to the bone 



STYES— BED- SOKES ULCERS. 265 

and parallel with the tendons; cover the wound with iodoform, and 
over this apply a poultice to soften the swelling. 

The latter is the one that is most effectual; the pain is not so severe 
as might be expected, and may be prevented by the hypodermic injection 
of cocaine into the swelling about half a minute previous to cutting it. 
Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment makes a good dressing, after 
the felon has discharged pus freely. As it is an indication of impure 
blood, Happy Home Tonic is needed. 

A Stye is a small boil, which forms at the edge of the eye-lid, 
often beginning around an eye-lash. 

Treatment. — Vinegar applied when the swelling first begins to 
appear will sometimes check them, as will pulling out the eye-lash 
from the center of the swelling. Sulphide of calcium in sugar-coated 
pills, containing one-tenth of a grain each, will prevent others com- 
ing. One pill should be taken every three hours, for a day or two;, 
then twice a day for one week. 

Bed-Sores are caused by lying in one position long enough to 
destroy the capillary circulation of the skin at that point, and death of 
that portion of the tissues, whose supply is cut off, follows. They are 
dangerous, because they are liable to mortify when the patient is not 
sick enough to die. They occur most frequently on the lower part of 
the back and on the hips. At first the places look red, and if not im- 
mediately attended to, they will die, and portions of the skin will 
separate, leaving a raw sore. 

Treatment.— Bed-sores can nearly always be prevented if the nurse 
is attentive. Patients who have been confined to the bed a long time, 
and those who are extremely feeble before being confined to the bed, 
should be examined daily. As soon as a reddish flush is seen bathe the 
place with tepid water, and anoint with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone 
Liniment; protect it from pressure by propping up the body with pads 
and pillows. Air-cushions and rings are better, when they can be had. 
The patient's position must be frequently changed; for in this low con- 
dition the circulation is very feeble, and a few hours steady pressure 
from lying in one position will do the mischief. The open sore may 
be treated the same as any ulcer. 

Ulcers. — The name ulcer is given to a disease which affects the 
skin and mucous membrane. The covering of the muscle at the point 
where the ulcer exists is partially destroyed, and the raw surface is 



266 APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY TO ULCERS. 

covered with pus. This eruption varies in size from a point scarcely 
larger than a pin-head to a broad surface several inches across. It 
may be deep, extending into the tissues beneath the skin, or be seated 
wholly in the skin. There are many causes for ulcers, among which 
are the rupture of a varicose vein, blood-poisoning, diseased bone (the 
last-named follows after a fracture when the bone has been shattered, 
and splinters continue to work out for years after) and parasites. An 
injury that merely destroys the scarf-skin has been known to be fol- 
lowed by an ulcer that resisted all treatment for months. This hap- 
pens only in scrofulous constitutions. Abscesses, carbuncles and boils 
are sometimes followed by an open sore that is very difficult to heal ; 
burns and scalds also give rise to slow-healing ulcers. 

Treatment. — Removal of the cause, where it still exists, is the first 
part of treatment. Varicose veins must be treated by measures which 
will remove the obstruction that gave rise to them, and improve the 
circulation in the affected part. After all obstruction is removed, 
electricity is an excellent remedy. Galvanism is the better form to heal 
the ulcer. To determine which pole to apply to the ulcer, ask your 
druggist for a piece of blue litmus paper, and when you are about to 
dress the ulcer, while it is still covered with the pus that has collected 
since the last dressing, lay the litmus paper upon it. If the pus turns 
the paper red, or gives it the least pinkish tinge, the negative pole of 
the battery must be applied to it; if, on the contrary, it remains un- 
changed, the positive pole is the one to apply. The sore should be 
cleansed with carbolized soft water and a mild soap; a soft sponge is 
to be moistened in hot, carbolized water, and laid over the ulcer, and 
the battery pole connected with this sponge. The other pole of the 
battery may be placed at any convenient spot. The current ought to 
be applied about half an hour. Afterward dress the ulcer with a very 
little carbolized vaseline, or cosmoline, "Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone 
Liniment, or mild mercurial ointment, using whichever produces the 
most soothing effect, and bandage the limb to support the veins, as 
shown in Fig. 24. The circulation in the limb may be vastly improved 
by faradism. The Mcintosh Battery Company, of Chicago, will fur- 
nish further particulars regarding the use of electricity. Ulcers due 
to diseased bone can not be healed until a surgeon has cut down to the 
bone and removed all diseased portions. As this is done while the 
patient is unconscious from inhaling ether, it causes no suffering, and 
should excite no fear. Ulcers caused by parasites need applications to 



DISINFECTION OF UXCEKS. 267 

destroy the germs. Some of the remedies which do this are mercurial 
ointment, corrosive sublimate lotion, made by dissolving one grain of 
corrosive sublimate in one pint of soft water; carbolic acid, five per 
cent, solution; boracic acid and iodoform, separately or mixed, may be 
sprinkled over the surface as a dry powder. Many cases will do better 
if poulticed with flaxseed meal or powdered slippery elm bark, ap- 
plied very moist and hot, until softened, before using the disinfectant. 
The lotions should be applied with a sponge or soft cotton, so as to 
allow them to "soak in" and reach the germs. Ointments should be 
spread thinly over the surface, and the powders evenly distributed over 
them. Do not use more than one of the disinfectants at the same time. 
Try the one selected for several weeks, or so long as it produces no irri- 
tation and until the ulcer is healed. 

No local treatment should be given ulcers due to blood-poisoning, 
except to keep them clean and free from any foul odor, which may be 
done by adding carbolic acid or permanganate of potash to the water 
used in washing them, until the blood is cleansed by suitable medicine. 
Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic can be depended upon 
to remove nearly all poisons from the blood. Frequently this medicine 
alone, with cleanliness, will be sufficient to heal the sores, which are 
sometimes mere outlets for a poison that Nature has vainly tried to 
dispose of in some other way. It is never prudent to heal any dis- 
charging sore or orifice that has existed a long time without first stimu- 
lating the excretory organs, or re-establishing their vigor when they 
are found to be inactive. Some irritable ulcers are made worse by 
soap and water; these may be kept clean by Uncle Sam's Liniment, 
using it on bits of cotton to soften and remove the pus. After ulcers 
begin to heal, do not rub them or allow any friction from the bandages. 
The delicate loops of fibrine, which unite to form a new skin, are very 
easily rubbed away ; and after a few efforts to unite, if interfered with, 
they will give up trying to do the work. Very large ulcers will heal 
for a certain distance inward from the edge of the skin, but for some 
reason there is a limit to the increase of growth outward from a margin 
of skin. Surgeons now manage to cover such ulcers, when in a healthy 
condition, by skin-grafts — that is, they will pinch up a portion of the 
skin at some other part of the body, cut out a very small piece with 
the scissors or a sharp knife, and plant it on the raw surface of the 
ulcer. These bits of skin may be taken from other people, and are 
sometimes taken from animals. Some of them will adhere and grow, 



268 CANCERS AND CANCER DOCTORS. 

making little islands of new and healthy skin on the surface of the 
ulcer. By repeatedly planting new grafts they gradually cover the 
whole surface, and the cure is complete. During this process it is of 
the utmost importance that the blood be kept pure and the body be 
well nourished. Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic should 
be continued during the treatment. 

Cancer. — This originates in something which circulates in the 
blood; whether it be a peculiar germ which finds lodgment in the part 
affected and therein develops and multiplies, or whether it is a poison 
either taken into the body from without or generated within, is a ques- 
tion unsettled. One thing, however, is well known — cancer never 
appears in persons of sound health and with pure blood. It seldom 
occurs under twenty-five years of age, and a peculiarity of it is that the 
younger the person attacked the more rapidly it runs its course. In 
early youth its tendency, when left untreated, is to increase constantly 
until life is destroyed, while in advanced life it may remain torpid for 
years. There are two principal forms, and many varieties; for our 
purpose it is only necessary to divide them into hard and soft cancer. 
The last mentioned are most rapidly fatal. Those afflicted with either 
form should seek advice early, and of their family physician. The 
so-called cancer doctors are not to be trusted. They call every swelling 
a cancer; and, as this disease is not very common, while other tumors 
are, they manage to cure cases now and then, which keeps up their 
reputation; when they get hold of an actual cancer, they fail in every 
instance. It is time the public were warned, and taught the truth on 
this subject. Too many lives have been sacrificed to arsenic and other 
poisons used by the ignoramuses who advertise themselves as cancer 
doctors. Any physician who has studied medicine enough to honestly 
acquire a diploma, knows more about curing cancers than these pre- 
tenders ; and it speaks well for the profession that, with all the tempta- 
tion there is to misrepresent the facts to secure patients, there are so 
few guilty of this practice. We cite a case illustrating the great 
danger of consulting quacks: A gentleman a little past 50, in 
moderately sound health, had allowed his teeth to decay; one had 
partly broken away, leaving a jagged edge, which wounded the gum on 
the upper jaw, and kept it constantly irritated. After a long time — 
nearly a year at least — a small fungus growth (what you would call 
"proud flesh ") sprung up in the wound. The gentleman was terribly 
frightened, and went immediately to consult a cancer specialist, who, of 



CONSULT YOUR FAMILY PHYSICIAN. 269 

course, pronounced it a cancer — a rose cancer, which he described as a 
particularly destructive variety, that needed the most energetic treat- 
ment. Having first secured his fee, which was limited only by the 
patient's ability to pay, he proceeded to apply a plaster, which con- 
tained a large proportion of arsenic, also a lotion of the same nature. 
The poison was rapidly absorbed by the tissues of the mouth, and the 
patient began very soon to show the symptoms of arsenical poisoning, 
which destroyed him within thirty days. Had this man at first applied 
to a dentist, and, after the removal of the offending tooth, sprinkled a 
little burnt alum upon the growth, it is probable he would be still alive. 
The best course for any one to pursue, when a lump, kernel, or any 
suspicious swelling appears that may be suspected, or even feared to 
be a cancer, is to consult the family physician. He will advise whom 
to see in case he is in doubt about the case; and you may be certain he 
will recommend no one unless he has good reason to trust him, and has 
confidence in his skill. It is far better to ask advice about a harmless 
tumor than to go on fearing danger until the very act of thinking about 
it has excited it into activity, as it frequently will do. 



270 



nurses: their duties and their responsibilities. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
NURSES: THEIR DUTIES AND THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES. 

There is nothing connected with the management of a patient 
suffering from a dangerous disease that causes the physician so much 
anxiety as the nursing. Many times life hangs upon the skill and faith- 
fulness of the nurse. Really good, trusty, sensible nurses are not so 
common as they ought to be; but, when they are found, they are treas- 
ures in the sick-room. 

There are plenty of women and a few men who profess to be 
skilled nurses ; and this class, with the exception of those who have had 
the advantage of professional training in hospital or schools designed 
for that purpose, are a doubtful blessing. In a country where "every- 
body is as good as anybody else," to borrow a phrase frequently heard, 
it is difficult to convince the ignorant, conceited, self-willed personage 
we sometimes find installed at the bedside of our patients that the 
physician and nurse have each entirely distinct duties to perform. It 
speaks well for the average honesty and truthfulness of our race, that 
when individuals claim positively and constantly to possess certain 
qualifications they are given credit for possessing them until their 
claims are proven false. Unfortunately, this very admirable trust- 
fulness in the matter of nurses has cost many a life of ten-fold more 
value than that of the ignoramus whose meddling has destroyed the 
last hope. This book has been written to very poor purpose, if it has 
not already conveyed the idea that something more than familiarity 
with the sick-room or a few drugs is necessary to the safe guidance 
of a patient through a dangerous illness. While it is true that the 
sick have better chance of recovery under good nursing with no 
doctor than with the best of doctors and no proper care, yet the 
grave responsibility of the medical adviser not only includes the man- 
agement of the disease in its active state, but protection from future 
consequences. Every physician of experience will assent to the as- 
sertion that the very best nurse in dangerous cases, when a trained 
nurse can not be had, is the woman or man who think they know 



HINTS REGARDING SICKNESS. 271 

nothing about sickness, yet are perfectly obedient in carrying out di- 
rections, and are quiet, neat, and unobtrusive in their behavior. It is to 
this class that this chapter is addressed; it is unnecessary for profes- 
sionals, who receive all this instruction and vastly more, during their 
training; it would be unheeded by that other class which is ever ready 
"to rush in where angels fear to tread," and imperil human life by 
ignorance and conceit. 

Care Of the Sick. — The first thing to be done, when the sick- 
ness is severe enough to need a doctor, and while waiting for his arri- 
val, is to place the patient in a cool, well-ventilated room, and keep him 
as quiet as possible. Do not admit visitors nor excitable persons to 
the bedside. There are a few things which it is appropriate to do in 
almost every case; these are, to give a bath when the patient is able to 
take it, to change the underclothing, to heat the feet when they are 
cool, and to apply cold to the head when it is hot. After the medical 
adviser arrives, his directions should control both nurse and patient. 
If he is worthy to be called in, he knows better than the nurse, the 
friends or any officious neighbor what ought to be done for the case. 

Do not Attempt to Prejudice the Patient against the Doctor. — It is 
not right to expect him to take time to explain why he gives certain 
directions. If he takes time to explain how they should be carried out, 
that is all that ought to be expected of him. The patient and imme- 
diate friends are the ones to select the doctor, and the one to whom 
they are willing to trust the endangered life should be obeyed. It is 
a great responsibility to try to shake the family's confidence in their 
adviser, and one that sensible people will not incur without a serious 
reason — such as intoxication or mental derangement, which unfits him 
to exercise his judgment or his knowledge. 

The Doctor's Directions Ought to be Faithfully Attended to. — All 
directions ought to be carried out as given. The medicine should be 
administered regularly at the right time, and in the exact quantity 
named. When a nurse varies from the doctor's orders, she takes upon 
herself the responsibility for the patient's death, in case he fails to 
recover. 

Medicine glasses should be covered to keep out the dust, and 
separate spoons should be used for each kind. Rest of both body and 
mind is always needed in sickness ; therefore, all talking should be in 
a low but distinct tone of voice, so that the patient may hear what is 
said. Nothing will excite a sick patient more than to hear whispering 



272 



DON TS TO BE REMEMBERED. 



or talking that can not be understood. It gives rise to the idea that 
something is being concealed, or that the case is hopeless. The ap- 
pended list of "Don'ts" should be carefully read over before going into 
the presence of a sick or feeble person: 

1. Don't bustle around with the intent of clearing up a room at 
a given time. Wait till the patient can bear it. 

2. Don't spend much time in sweeping, dusting, or arranging 
things in the room. Whatever is done let it be done swiftly, quietly, 
and never when the patient is sleeping. 

3. Don't let the door hinges creak — a little oil or soap will stop 
this noise; shut the doors gently, and never wear squeaky shoes within 
hearing of a sick person. 

4. Don't read a newspaper in the room, because the rustling of 
the paper as it is moved is distressing to the nervous. Noisily turning 
the leaves of a book, or the scratching of a pen is extremely annoying. 

5. Don't make a noise in replenishing the tire, or removing the 
ashes. Coal fires may be kept up silently by placing a shovelful of 
coal in paper bags, outside the invalid's room, where the rattling of the 
pieces can not be heard. A scuttle full of these filled bags may be car- 
ried into the room, and one of them at a time, as needed, may be laid on 
the fire, without being noticed. In taking up the ashes do not wait to 
scrape out all there are; take out several shovelfuls, but not enough 
to make a scraping noise on the bottom or sides of the ash pan. Wood 
fires can be managed quietly with a little attention. 

6. Don't drop anything to make a sudden noise, nor draw chairs 
across the bare floor or carpet. Raise them up, carry to the place they 
are wanted, and then set them down gently. 

7. Don't sit between the patient and the fire. 

8. Don't try to regulate the temperature of the room by your 
feelings, but by a thermometer. 

9. Don't neglect to write down the doctor's directions — especially 
when there is more than one kind of medicine ordered. 

10. Don't dispute with a patient; never talk of deaths and the 
dying, or similar topics within hearing of the sick; talk little, and only 
in reply to the patient. Be hopeful and encouraging in actions as well 
as words, even in the most desperate cases. Let the physician decide 
when it is best to inform an incurable case of approaching death; a 
nurse ought never to hint at this, except by the request of the physi- 
cian or near friends. 



MANAGEMENT OF DELIRIOUS PATIENTS. 273 

Delirious Patients Require Good Care and Careful Watching. — 
However absurd the idea which they may have, never show them that 
you think it absurd. If it be one that excites fear, anger or grief, it 
causes as much suffering for the time as if it were an actual reality. 
The nurse who has tact will seek to prove its falsity, so that the 
patient will realize it without feeling opposed or ridiculed. For 
example, if there be fear that a robber, a wild beast or a ghost is in the 
room, take a lamp and look for the object, taking care to let your 
patient see that you are earnestly seeking it; let the patient be the first 
to say that it is gone, or that it was a trick of the imagination. Keep 
your eyes open during the search for the cause of this fancy. Observa- 
tion teaches us that there is something in all these instances to origi- 
nate the idea. It may be a garment hanging where it is dimly seen, 
and which assumes the form of a man or beast. Most distressing 




FIG. 19. ANKLE BANDAGE, FIRST TURN. 
Place the first end at a, and carry the bandage over it to hold it in place. 

fancies originate in the images or figures on wall-paper. The 
paper, of course, can not be removed; but sheets or white paper may 
be tacked up to cover the wall within range of the patient's vision. 
The removal of the suggesting cause is often sufficient to restore the 
mind to its balance. Disputing or denying the idea not only excites, 
but produces a dangerous impression on the brain. " Trifles light as 
air, " in some cases, are all that stand between perfect recovery and 
mental darkness for the remainder of life. The cry to go home, the 
scrambling out of bed to go there as soon as left alone, and all the 
other familiar acts of the sick, who are taken up with the idea that they 
are away from home, are often due to some change in surroundings, or 
to occupying a strange room. It is of no use to assure such a patient 
that he or she is at home; you must prove it with as few words as pos- 
sible. Bring familiar objects or faces around them, or remove them to 



274 SELECT A LARGE ROOM FOR THE SICK. 

their own room if they grow too excited for safety. If they be away 
from home, then quiet them with assurances that they may start for 
home in the morning or in the evening; this will allay the excitement, 
and they will probably forget all about it before the time comes. 
Delirious patients must be watched to prevent them from doing injury 
to themselves, even though they show no intention of this. They may 
suddenly try to do something that is dangerous, although their inten- 
tion is harmless enough. For example, a very sick lady was apparently 
too feeble to feed herself; but in the night her nurse, who had fallen 
into a doze, awoke just as she was putting the sheets into the open 
stove at some distance from the bed; when questioned about it she 
replied: "I didn't mean to do any harm — I was only throwing some 
shavings on the fire, because I was so cold." The fire had burned low, 
the room had cooled off; some of the bed coverings had fallen to the 
floor, and the restless and chilly patient's poor, bewildered brain had 
mistaken the sheets for shavings; only the timely awakening of the 
nurse saved the poor creature from an awful death. She afterward 
recovered in mind and body, but remembered nothing concerning her 
peril. 

The Selection and Preparation of the Sick -Room. — It is very 
unkind to keep a sick person in a small bedroom when there is a large 
spare room in the house. The custom of keeping the best room in the 
house for occasional visitors and formal callers, while it is denied 
to members of the family, at the very time they need it the most, is a 
refinement of selfishness. The preparation of the room for the comfort 
of the patient, when the attack seems likely to be a long one, or when 
the disease is infectious, includes the removal of all stuffed furniture, 
carpet, lace, and other expensive curtains and pictures. Strips of old 
carpet that can be easily washed, may be laid down to deaden the 
sound of the foot-steps; wood or cane-seat chairs only should be kept 
in the room ; be careful to remove all rocking chairs that creak or make 
any noise when they are occupied. Regulate the light to be agreeable 
to the patient, but do not allow the sun to shine in the eyes or on the 
head. Make the bed nicely without lumps, but banish the feather 
bed, and all coverings that may not be washed in hot water. When 
the patient can sit up, or can be moved to a lounge or cot, take the 
bedding out-doors every day; if confined to the bed, let it be wide, so 
that one side may be occupied while the other side is uncovered to air, 
and cool; by this plan the patient may be changed to a comparatively 



LOSS OF APPETITE NO CAUSE FOR ALARM. 275 

fresh bed several times a day by simply moving from one side to the 
other. The sheets and pillow cases should be changed every day, 
sometimes often er. Where the disease in not " catching," and it is 
difficult to get washing done, two complete sets of bed clothes may be 
made to answer a week, by changing every morning and keeping one 
set in the open air and sunshine, while the other is in use. The gar- 
ments worn by the patient ought to be fresh every day; when unsoiled 
on removal, a thorough airing will lit them for use a second time; 
when soiled, they must be washed before being worn again. 

All Utensils Must be Kept Strictly Clean. — No discharges from 
the patient should be permitted to stand in the room a longer time than 
is necessary for the nurse to throw a shawl over her head and carry 




FIG. 20. ANKLE BANDAGE, SECOND TURN. 

This shows the opposite side of the same foot as Fig. 19, the hand holding the bandage 
Teady for the second turn. 

them out. Patients who raise matter from throat or lungs, and those 
who have a discharge from the nose or ears, should be provided with 
small squares of paper instead of handkerchiefs, or cloths; each piece 
as it is used may be thrust into a paper bag, such as grocers use. 
Bags can be made at home from brown paper with paste or glue. 
Paper bags are better than cloth, because they do not permit evapora- 
tion. The bags, with their contents, should be burned at least twice 
a day. 

Poods. — Do not be alarmed during the first stage of any illness, 
because a patient refuses to eat. Loss of appetite at this time means 
that food can not be digested. When a physician is employed he 
should advise what food to give. Those suffering from typhoid fever 
;and similar exhausting diseases, need nothing else than milk until the 
crisis is past. This should be given in small quantities, and often. A 
tea-cupful, every three hours, is all that most patients will take; some 



276 



DIET FOR INVALIDS. 



need less. Weak patients need nourishment between 3 and 5 in the 
morning — at the time they usually wake and toss restlessly about, 
unable to sleep or rest. A cup of hot broth, or beef tea, or milk will 
do more to give them rest than medicine. 

Method of Improving the Digestibility of Milk. — When the milk 
disagrees, add two tea-spoonfuls of lime water to each cup; a tea- 
spoonful of calcined magnesia may be substituted when lime water 
must not be given. Dissolve the magnesia in the milk, stir it well, let 
it settle a moment or two; then pour the milk off into another cup, so 
the patient shall not see any sediment, or know that any medicine is 
added to the food. Attention to just such little matters as these, has 
more to do with the welfare of the patient than most people will believe. 




FIG. 21. HAND BANDAGE. 

Hold one end of the bandage, which must be neatly rolled, on the back of the hand at a, and 
carry it around the wrist, as here shown, over the end o, which holds it securely; after cover- 
ing the hand the last end may be secured to the bandage with pins, or with needle and thread. 

AVaried Diet is Needed. — As soon as the patient can take a variety 
of food, it ought to be prepared in small quantity, and only two or 
three articles given at one time. It is more agreeable, and better for 
the digestive organs, to have the diet changed at each meal, than to 
have a large variety, and the same articles brought on each time. 
Cover the tray with a clean napkin, select the prettiest dishes, and 
make the food look as attractive as possible; eggs broken into boiling 
water are apt to have ragged edges — trim these off; broiled steak needs 
trimming in the same way. It makes all the difference in the world 
with the appetite of a fastidious convalescent, whether the food is 
daintily served or not; no larger quantity should be offered him than 
he may eat at once. The sight of a large mass of food will sometimes 
completely destroy the appetite of a person in delicate health ; it is 
better to offer too little, and bring more if it be wanted, than to run 
the risk of all being refused. 

Regularity in serving meals is very important. Do not keep the 
patient waiting, beyond the usual time of eating, for some dainty that 



SUGGESTIONS FOR FEEDING A FEEBLE PATIENT. 277 

is not quite ready. It is better to reserve it until the next meal than 
to delay at this time. This rule holds good in the most dangerous 
stage: it may be impossible to give the full amount of nourishment 
each time; but a small quantity, if no more than a spoonful, is better 
than none. 

Do not ask the patient what he wants to eat, but prepare some- 
thing suitable, and bring it to the bedside; he will often be surprised 
into eating when he does not feel inclined to do so from hunger. In 
case the convalescent desires any particular article, should there be 
any doubt as to its effect upon him, ask the doctor before giving it, 
and, if he consents to its being given, prepare it as quickly as pos- 
sible. Waiting is very wearing upon an invalid. 




ARM BANDAGE. 



FaBten the first end on the back of the hand, as shown in Fig. 21, and turn it in the same 
■way; as it is carried around the hand the second time, let it pass inside the thumb; then turn it 
towards the wrist, and so on, up the arm, as high as necessary. 

Method of Feeding the Patient. — Those who are not too feeble to 
be propped up, may be made comfortable by placing a chair at their 
back, turned down so as to make an inclined surface, on which a pillow 
or a blanket is laid. Fasten a shawl around the shoulders, and a 
napkin at the neck; provide a basin of water for the hands, or a wet 
cloth to rub them off; dry them, and, if the lips are parched, they 
may be moistened. Have the food all ready, on a small tray, and hold 
it where the patient can reach it without effort. Do not watch his 
eating, or hurry him, or urge him to eat more than he wants. Those 
who are too feeble to feed themselves may have the head gently raised 
by the nurse's left arm slipped under the pillow; the spoon should 
not be full, so as to run over as it is pressed against the lips. Never 



278 BEVERAGES FOR THE SICK-ROOM. 

waken a feeble patient to take food, unless ordered to do so by the 
attending physician. 

Do not keep the remnants of a meal in the sick-room, but remove 
all reminders of the food as soon as the patient has finished eating. 
Not alone the food, but water, lemonade, etc, soon absorb the gases 
generated in the sick-room, and are unfit for use. When the disease is 
contagious, all remnants of food ought to be burned; when thrown 
out, they are liable to convey disease to fowls or animals which pick 
them up. 

Keep all Medicine Out of the Patient's Sight. — It is bad enough 
to be obliged to swallow the nauseous doses often needed, without 
being compelled to watch it, until the very sight of the bottle that con- 
tains it or the spoon which measures it becomes abhorrent. 

Drink. — The best beverage for most sick people is cold water. 
The diseases in which cold water must be avoided are rare, and so 
severe that a doctor should certainly be called. In burning fever, 
when there is a desire for something sour, lemonade, cream-tartar 
water, currant jelly, or boiled cider diluted with water, or fresh cider 
may be given, especially when the tongue is dry, dark-red, and 
parched. The white, pasty-coated tongue, with or without a sour 
breath, calls for an alkaline drink. A little bi-carbonate of soda, car- 
bonate of potash, or magnesia, may be added to the water— just enough 
to be slightly tasted by a healthy tongue when a mouthful is swal- 
lowed. A drink that will often relieve nausea, when accompanied by 
a sour stomach, is made in this way: Fill a goblet half -full of water, 
add a tea-spoonful or two of vinegar, according to its strength; the 
water should taste quite sour; add a few bits of ice, if you have it; 
then stir in a level tea-spoonful of saleratus, bi-carbonate of soda, or 
carbonate of potash; drink while foaming, but leave the dregs. Prop- 
erly prepared, it tastes neither sour nor alkaline. The proportions of 
vinegar and soda, or potash, must be varied according to strength. 
Never give any kind of herb tea to a patient under a doctor's care, 
except with his advice or consent. They are medicines, just as much 
as anything he prescribes, and may destroy the effect of those he is 
giving. Nurses must remember that medicines assist Nature ; they 
can never do more, and that their duty is to take care of the patient, 
not to do the prescribing. 

To keep Ice in a Sick- Room. — Ice may be preserved several hours in 
the heat of summer, by this plan: Take a deep bowl, empty and dry; 






THE HEALTH OF THE NURSE MUST BE PRESERVED. 279 

tie over it a piece of thick, white flannel, perfectly clean, and large 
enough so that the part over the bowl may be pressed down in the 
middle, about one -half the depth of the bowl. Pound the ice into 
pieces of suitable size for the patient's use; place them, as dry as pos- 
sible, on the flannel in the bowl, and cover them with the free end of 
the flannel ; over this lay a napkin. When a piece of ice is needed, 
take it out without raising the cover more than is necessary. As the 
ice melts, it drains through into the bowl below; when the water rises 
as high as the flannel, pour it out, and dry out the flannel before using 
it again. 

To Allay Thirst in Very Feeble Patients. — Those who are very 
weak are wearied by raising the head to drink, while there are condi- 
tions in which there is danger of sudden death from raising the head 
for any purpose; water and liquid medicines may be given to them 
through a bent tube, a tea-pot, or by means of the cups with long 
spouts made for invalids. When the thirst is excessive, and fluids 
disagree with the stomach, it can be considerably alleviated by placing 
bits of ice in the mouth, or by frequently bathing the lips with cold 
water; use a piece of lint or clean linen, and moisten the tongue also. 
Wash the palms of the hand, in clean, cool water, and if the patient can 
bear it, bathe the entire body at short intervals, using fresh, soft water 
without soap. A very hot, dry skin is refreshed by adding a little vinegar 
to the bath. A dry, parched tongue may be moistened by pure 
glycerine; the best quality only should be employed for this purpose. 

Ventilation of the Sick-Boom. — The air should be kept pure by 
frequent change, but the patient must not be exposed to currents of 
air when the skin is moist. During high fever, when the skin is hot 
and dry, there is no danger of a chill, even though the air blow directly 
upon the patient. Once a day, at least, the windows and doors should 
be thrown open to sweep out the air of the room with the cooler air 
from outside. The patient may be perfectly protected by covering the 
head and body closely with blankets, leaving only a small opening to 
breathe through. A window in an adjoining room should be kept 
partly open all the time, and the door between the rooms be left 
slightly ajar. 

The Health of the Nurse Must be Cared for. — A nurse should have 
out-door exercise every day, and a regular time for sleep; she ought to 
leave the sick-room for a few moments, every six hours, and to eat 
a nutritious meal before returning to it; during her entire attendance 



280 



SELECTION OF WATCHERS. 



upon a patient she ought to be well fed. Light-colored clothing is 
better than dark, and it should be made of material and in a style that 
can be easily laundried. A large apron should be worn, which can be 
changed every day, or oftener if it is soiled. The nurse ought to 
be scrupulously neat in person, and the use of perfumery should be 
forbidden. 

Those who attend upon contagious cases ought to wear a cap 
entirely covering the hair, as well as a dress and apron that can be 
removed just outside the door before going among unexposed persons. 

Watchers. — The question of watchers is a troublesome one. In a 
protracted sickness people must depend upon such help as they can 
find, so that there is not much chance to make a selection of watchers; 
usually it is a blessing to find anyone willing to take charge of a very 




FIG. 23. LEG BANDAGE. 

This is begun at the foot, and fastened as shown in Fig. 20. It may be carried up in the 
same way to the hip, if needed so far, and then fastened with pins. It should be drawn smooth 
and snug, but not tight enough to feel uncomfortable. The usual object of a bandage is to sup- 
port, not to compress, the parte. 

sick person during the night, and friends are compelled to overlook 
deficiencies or unfitness in the necessity for procuring rest for the 
regular attendants. When the case is very critical, and the patient is 
worse during the night, it is better to reserve the regular nurse for 
the night attendant, and depend upon transient help during the day, 
when it is easier to call assistance, if an emergency arises. Watchers 
ought to be cheerful, kind, firm and attentive in the presence of the 
patient. They should reach the house of the sick at an early hour, 
and eat a hearty supper before going into the sick-room. So far as 
possible, all instruction for the care of the patient should be given be- 
fore going into the room, or within hearing of the sufferer, because the 
latter is apt to worry, lest the instructions are not carried out, and to 
be kept awake by a feeling of responsibility in the matter. Take extra 



DUTIES OF NIGHT ATTENDANTS. 281 

wraps to wear toward morning, when one is liable to be chilly. The 
family should see that everything is provided in or near the sick-room 
that will be needed for the patient, and that a plain lunch is ready for 
the night attendants. 

Duties of Watchers. — One of the most important admonitions to 
watchers is to avoid talking— either to the patient or to each other. A. 
patient ill enough to need watchers, is in a condition requiring quiet 
and rest. It is better for one to lie down, when the services of both 
are not needed at the same time; and by changing about, neither will 
become exhausted, and yet assistance will be within call when wanted. 
The one remaining at the bedside should sit with her face turned away 
from the patient, when not occupied in neccessary attentions. There 
is nothing more exciting to one who is slightly delirious, or is very ill, 
than to feel that every breath is being watched. If necessary to watch 
closely, let it be done adroitly, so that the patient will not feel " stared 
at." The writer once had an experience that will explain the emphasis 
laid upon the advice "not to talk." A lady who had recently passed 
through a great bereavement under peculiarly distressing circumstances 
was threatened with brain fever. Notwithstanding that everything 
possible was done for her, she was sleepless for five nights in succes- 
sion. The case grew very unpromising, and it became evident her 
mind, if not her life, would be destroyed unless she could have sleep. 
Deciding to give her personal supervision the sixth night, to discover 
if it were not possible to do something more for her, the following plan 
was pursued: The attendant was requested to occupy a lounge just out- 
side the open door, where she could hear every movement of the patient, 
while being out of sight. The family retired early; the room was well 
ventilated, and the lamp placed where it dimly lighted the space about 
the bed; the patient's hands and face were bathed in cool water; the 
sheets made smooth, the pillows comfortably adjusted, the bed cover- 
ings tucked in to keep out cold air, and everything was made perfectly 
quiet. Within half an hour we had the satisfaction of hearing her 
breathe regularly ; the restlessness subsided, and soon she was sleeping. 
Except as she was aroused at regular intervals to swallow a little nour- 
ishment, which her exhausted condition demanded, she slept continu- 
ously, and in the morning the crisis was past, and recovery began. 
Upon questioning her afterward it was learned that she had been kept 
awake every night by the watchers — kindly souls, who had done the 
best they knew; therefore, she concealed the annoyance which they had 



282 HABITS WHICH ANNOY THE SICK. 

caused her, at the risk of her own life, lest she hurt their feelings. It 
seems that they talked incessantly, mostly in whispers, with frequent 
pauses, during which, to use the patient's language, " they came to the 
bedside and stared at me as if I were a natural curiosity, anxiously 
asking me if I felt worse, if I wanted anything, and making me feel as 
if I must fly away." At lunch they gossiped about her affairs in a low 
tone, but perfectly audible to her, rattled their tea-cups, spoons and 
knives, each sound seeming to pierce her brain; the fire was replen- 
ished with rattling of coals, dropping of poker, or thumping of scuttle 
— in short, they were unintentionally noisy and irritating. Blessed 
with strong nerves that had never been unstrung by sickness or trouble, 
they did not dream of the harm they were doing. 

Men or women who are compelled to work hard all day should not 
be called upon to watch at night. They can not be depended upon to 
look after the patient. No matter how willing they may be — exhausted 
Nature demands rest; and they are liable to fall asleep, in spite of 
themselves. 

The directions for the watchers ought always to be written out in 
full, so that they can make no mistake, nor be compelled to arouse the 
regular attendant to learn what they forget. It gives the patient, 
also, greater confidence in them. Many persons who are not particu- 
larly sensitive in health, are easily annoyed when their nerves are irri- 
tated by sickness; for that reason not only watchers, but all others 
engaged in their care, ought to avoid habits which make them dis- 
agreeable. A breath scented with onions, or loaded with foul-smelling 
excretions or tobacco, is bad enough at any time ; it is distressing to one in 
ill -health. Never breathe in the face of a patient while bathing or 
otherwise engaged in close attendance upon him. The habit of picking 
the nose with the fingers, or of cleaning the chamber utensils, and 
then handling the food or medicine without first washing the hands, 
is sometimes responsible for loss of appetite and nausea. Never taste 
food or medicine in presence of the patient, nor measure out a dose in 
a spoon that any one has used, until it has been washed. 

Caring for the Hair. — Lady patients need to have the hair 
kept in order, or it will become hopelessly tangled. It is better 
at the beginning of any illness that threatens to confine the victim to 
her bed, for even a few days, to straighten the hair, and, parting it in 
the middle, make two loose braids, which are to be firmly fastened at the 
ends, to prevent unbraiding. When this has been neglected, and the 



EASY METHOD OF MOVING A HELPLESS PATIENT. 283 

hair is already tangled, separate a handful, without raising the head, 
and gently brush it, beginning at the ends, until the hairs are sepa- 
rated — then work gradually up to the head; allow the patient to rest an 
hour or two before doing any more, and, when completed, braid it. 
The hair must be handled very gently, when the tangle is very close, 
oil the hair, and shake it apart before trying to brush it. It is not un- 
common for lice to be found in the heads of weak patients who have 
been ill a long time. To remove them, ask the doctor's opinion regard- 
ing the application of a little mercurial ointment; never employ it with- 
out his consent, and use only a very small quantity; rub it behind the 
ears and around the margin of the hair where the nits are most plenti- 
ful; then cover the hair closely with dry cotton-batting, heated by lay- 
ing it on a hot stove. The lice will generally leave the hair, attracted 
by the warm batting; after an hour, remove it and burn it immediately. 
When the ointment is forbidden, use the cotton without it. During and 
after severe fevers, the hair and scalp ought to be washed. A lump of 
borax, the size of a small hickory-nut, added to each pint of water makes 
it more cleansing; only the best hard, unscented soap should be used. 
. The Nails. — The finger and toe-nails need to be kept clean, and occa- 
sionally cut; this should be done quickly, using a sharp knife. When 
very hard, soak them in warm water containing a little soda, to soften 
them. They are sometimes very brittle, breaking off so as to expose 
the quick. To restore them to a natural state, anoint them freely with 
Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. 

How to Lift a Helpless Patient. — When the patient has slipped 
down in bed, do not drag him up; if strong enough, he must clasp his 
arms around the neck of the nurse, who leans over him, when it will 
generally be easy to lift him a little from the bed and raise him up. 
In case the nurse is not strong enough to do this, the sheet on which 
the patient lies may be drawn up towards the head of the bed, and an 
extra sheet be laid over the space uncovered at the feet. When it 
becomes necessary to move a helpless patient from one bed to another, 
he should be moved on the lower sheet. It may be done more easily 
when there are four persons to help, one for each corner. Protracted 
illness is liable to break down the nurses, who are compelled to lift the 
patient every time he needs to be moved. It is better and cheaper to 
provide one of the convenient contrivances made for the purpose of 
moving and raising the helpless in bed. They may be had of surgical 
instrument dealers, and your druggist can procure them for you. 



284 PREPARATION OF CUSHIONS, PADS AND BANDAGES. 

Cushions and Pads for the Sick. — It is often necessary to prop 
up a limb or to ease pressure upon some part of the body. Feather 
pillows and cushions, are "too heating;" besides, they absorb disease 
emanations, and are too valuable to be destroyed. Cushions may be 
stuffed with soft shavings, with cut straw or chaff, and pads of various 
sizes may be filled with bran. These are convenient for many pur- 
poses, and may be frequently emptied, the contents burned, the cases 
washed and filled again. A bag of sand is excellent to retain heat, and 
on account of being soft and yielding, is often better than a soap-stone 
or brick. 




FIG. 24. FOUR-TAILED DANDAGE. 

This is a very convenient bandage for the head, which may be adjusted in a variety of 
ways, according to the purpose it is to serve. In this illustration is shown a square of cloth 
long enough to pass over the forehead, to cross at the back of the neck and tie under the chin. 
At each end the square is divided into two parts, a space in the center large enough to cover the 
top of the head being left whole. The back halves are brought under the chin and fastened 
there; the front halves cross at the back of the neck, and are brought around the neck to fasten 
under the chin. 

Preparation of Bandages. — The nurse is expected to know how 
to prepare such bandages as are wanted, and ought to know how to 
apply them when necessary. Roller bandages are strips of different 
widths, varying from one to four inches, made of loosely- woven cotton 
or flannel. The strips are made several yards long, and rolled up tight, 
before applying, for convenience. An old cotton sheet makes good 
bandages; the hems must be torn off and the ends laid flat on each 
other, and basted where they overlap on the four sides. Never use 
cloth that has not been washed; it will shrink when moistened, and may 
make the bandage dangerously tight. 

Cautions in Regard to Bandaging. — A bandage must never be 
tighter in one place than another; unequal pressure may do injury. 
Do not let the edges cross any sore spot; cover the tender place with 



FIDELITY AND RETICENCE NECESSARY IN THE NURSE. 285 

the full width of the strip; always begin to adjust it at a point farthest 
from the heart — that is, to bandage the leg begin at the foot (see Fig. 
19), or the arm, begin at the fingers. Let the bandage be laid per- 
fectly smooth, avoiding wrinkles. It is sometimes necessary to pack 
cotton batting or absorbent cotton around the joints to prevent too 
much pressure on the bone; the ankle and wrist joints must be specially 
guarded in this way. A sling is a square piece of cotton, or a large 
handkerchief, having two of the opposite diagonal corners tied about 
the neck, to support the arm. It should be brought above the elbow 
and extend to the wrist, or if the hand is to be supported, to the tips 
of the fingers. A many-tailed bandage is a long strip crossed by short 
ones, fastened at right angles. It is much used in bandaging the limbs, 
because one strip may be unfastened and removed without disturbing 
the rest, when necessary to examine an injury. (An example of this 
style is shown in Fig. 24.) 

A Nurse Should never Reveal Family Secrets. — During illness, 
especially when the patient is delirious, the attendant is liable to learn 
many things that ought never to be repeated. Such information ought 
to be regarded as a sacred confidence, and any person who has neither 
sense nor conscience enough to keep it a secret is unfit to be intrusted 
with the responsible duties of a nurse. It is not advisable to inform 
patients, on recovery, of their acts and speech while sick; it never does 
any good, and always harms a nervous patient. 

Subjects which Should not be Referred to before a Patient. — The 
cruelty of thoughtless people, who speak of everything that comes into 
their mind in the presence of the sick, is something from which a 
patient ought to be most scrupulously guarded. Never talk yourself, 
nor allow any one else to speak of deaths, funerals, accidents and topics 
of that description in the hearing of a patient. It is almost a uni- 
versal practice, in town and country alike, for callers to discuss the 
most depressing subject that is to be found. The atmosphere of the 
invalid's room seems to be suggestive of all the dreadful experiences 
within the history of the visitor, or known to her by tradition, and she 
is certain to relate them in full, unless checked by the tact and firm- 
ness of some one responsible for the patient's welfare. Another 
visitor, with whom it is more difficult to deal, but who should be sup- 
pressed, is the one who calls to look after the patient's soul. We have 
the authority of the Good Book itself that there is a time for every- 
thing; and most emphatically the time to call a sick person's attention 



286 DO NOT HAEASS THE DYING WITH EEFEEENCE TO THE FUTUEE. 

to death is not when he is struggling in the throes of disease, and his 
life hangs by a thread that a rude jar may snap asunder. Never, under 
any circumstances whatever, should any one be allowed to converse 
about dying with the sick, who are not in immediate danger of death, 
without first consulting the physician in attendance. A patient that 
is beyond recovery should be permitted to see any one he wishes to see, 
and at any time when an invalid asks for a religious adviser, his request 
ought to be granted; but give him his choice, and do not try to force 
upon him any one that he does not want. The consolations of religion 
will be sought by those to whom they will be of any benefit, and to 
others the subject will only bring distress. Be merciful enough to 
spare their last moments, and leave them to their Maker. 



ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 






CHAPTER XVIII. 
ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES. 

The most important thing for any one to do in the presence of an 
accident is to exercise self-control; and those who do so can almost 
always think of some way to relieve the injured, or preserve them from 
further harm until skilled assistance arrives. There is peril in the 
well-meant but rash officiousness of excited by-standers; and, as they are 
certain to crowd about the victim, cutting off his supply of fresh air, 
they must be dispersed before trying to discover the nature or extent 
of the injury. An excellent way to accomplish this, without giving 
offense, is to set each one at work, no matter if it is of no consequence; 
in the attempt to assist, most people will regain their self-possession, 
and become really useful helpers. 

As soon as there is an air space made, if the patient can speak, ask 
where, and how much he is hurt, and then look to see if the injury is 
serious. Sometimes fright will unnerve a man, and he will think him- 
self in danger when he is not hurt at all. An amusing instance of this 
kind occurred in this city. A man was passing a saloon just as a fight 
began; several shots were fired, and he was struck in the breast over the 
heart. He fell down pale and trembling, gasping "I am shot!" The 
patrol was called; the man was gently lifted into the wagon, and taken 
to the hospital The surgeons gathered round him when he arrived 
there, to discover the nature of his wound; his breast was bared, but not 
a scratch was found upon it. An examination of his coat revealed the 
bullet imbedded in the folds of the paper he had thrust into his pocket 
but a moment before he was shot. If the patient can assist in locating 
the injury, then proceed according to the directions given in this 
chapter for treating that particular accident. When he is unconscious 
it is not always easy to find out where, or how much damage has been 
done. Do not waste any time in inquiries until these three things have 
been attended to: 

1. Turn the body upon one side, so that breathing will be easier 



288 TREATMENT OF HEMORRHAGE AFTER AN ACCIDENT. 

(if permitted to lie on the back, the tongue may fall back into the throat 
and close the air passage). 

2. If blood be flowing from mouth or nose, and in all cases when 
the face is dark red, raise the body into sitting post are and prop up 
the head. If the face be pale, lower the body to the horizontal posi- 
tion, but keep the head on a level with the shoulder. 

3. Loosen any tight bands around the neck or waist, and unfasten 
the collar. After this, try restoratives. Sprinkle the face with cold 
water, but do not dash it on to wet the clothing. Ammonia may 
be held near the nose, but do not spill any upon the patient. We have 
seen very serious injury done a fainting person by spilling ammonia on 
the face. Do not give a stimulant when the head is injured, or blood 
is flowing freely. The majority of people act as if they believe the 
first thing to be done for a patient under these circumstances is to give 
a drink of water or liquor; this is a mistake — a fatal one now and then. 
Never pour any liquid into the mouth of an unconscious person — leave 
that for the doctor to do when it must be done; the risk of strangling 
is far greater than any harm that can possibly follow from not giv- 
ing it. 

Haemorrhage after Accidents.— The first thing to be done 

for open wounds is to stop the bleeding. Ice, cold water, exposure to 
air, raising up the part higher than the heart, and pressure are the 
measures most easily employed. When the blood spurts out in a 
bright, red jet, pressure must be applied, and at once. A young man 
had a foot cut off by a mowing machine ; the driver instantly sprang to 
his assistance, laid him down quickly, rolled up a coat and placed it 
under his head, then ran half a mile for help; but when he returned the 
wounded man was just gasping, and died before he could be moved. 
His life might easily have been saved had his friend been sufficiently 
thoughtful to tie a handkerchief about the leg to close the artery. 
Pressure is successful only when there is something hard to press down 
upon, so as to hold the bleeding vessel firmly. Haemorrhage from the 
neck or arm- pit, where the tissue beneath is soft and yielding, can not 
be checked by pressure on the wound. The vessel must be pressed 
upon at some point where it lies near a bone (see F, Fig. 25, for an 
example of this method of controlling bleeding). 

Caution. — In applying pressure it is dangerous to cut off all 
circulation through the wounded part; for often half an hour, sometimes 
less, when this is done the blood clots in the vessels, completely closing 



METHODS OF CONTROLLING HEMORRHAGE BY PRESSURE. 289 

them, and the parts supplied by them die. There is another danger, 
and that is that bits of the clots may be washed into the circulation, 
and, being carried to the heart, will clog up one of the valves, producing 
instant death. When it is necessary to tie something around the limb 
for a short time, it is better to fold a handkerchief into a small, thick 
pad; lay it on the limb just above the wound, tie another handkerchief 
loosely around the limb at that point (a suspender may be used instead) ; 
slip a stick, a pencil, a small rod, or anything suitable that is handy 
through it, and turn it around and around, to twist the handkerchief 




FIG. 25. CONTROLLING HEMORRHAGE BY PRESSURE. 

C shows method of applying pressure in the wound. 

A the way to stop the flow of blood when it spurts out near the elbow, or between the 

shoulder and elbow. 
F the location of the artery, and place to compress it when the bleeding is from the arm-pit 

or around the shoulder. 

bandage down tight on the pad. The greatest pressure will be on this 
point, and as soon as the blood ceases to now it is tight enough, yet the 
flow of blood through the other vessels is not entirely checked. It may 
be known that a dangerous pressure is being applied when the parts 
beyond the wound turn blue or dark colored and become cold. In the 
case of the young man referred to above, who had his foot cut entirely 
off, his companion should have tied something very snugly around the 
leg, as low down as possible, as there was no other way in which he 
could have chec'ked the bleeding. 

After great loss of blood the face becomes pale, pulse feeble, the 



290 IT IS NECESSARY TO MOVE AN INJURED PATIENT GENTLY. 

patient feels weak, the breath is interrupted by frequent sighs, the 
temples throb, the skin becomes cold, and at last there is fainting. 
During unconsciousness the blood moves slowly, a clot forms, and the 
bleeding ceases; but, as soon as the patient rallies from the fainting fit, 
the heart beats faster, the blood is thrown out with more force, which 
may remove the clot, and then the haemorrhage will begin again. 

Treatment. — It is important that the patient's mind and body be 
kept as quiet as possible, and the position of the body should be such 
that the flow of blood to the bleeding part shall be hindered. In 
almost all cases it is better for the patient to lie down with the head 
on a level with the shoulders, because the blood is carried with less 
force when the body is in a horizontal position. After an accident, 
attended by great loss of blood, the patient must have his strength 
built up by an extra amount of good blood-making material. He 
ought to eat from four to six times in the 24 hours, plain, 
easily digestible food, selected to combine all the materials needed by 
the system. Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic will be 
needed to stimulate the organs of digestion. 

Moving the Patient. — As soon as possible after an accident, the 
patient should be taken home, or to some place where he can re- 
ceive proper care. His family should be notified by some one who has 
sense enough to deliver the message, without alarming the friends 
unnecessarily. Before moving him, look for broken bones; when a 
leg or arm is broken, it must be held steadily, as all motion jars the 
bones apart, or drives broken ends into the flesh, causing excruciating 
pain, and increasing the damage already done. 

Never let a broken leg or arm hang down, swinging with every 
step of the bearers — it is a most cruel proceeding. Prop up the broken 
limb in as easy a position as possible, using a coat rolled up, bunches 
of grass, or hay, pieces of turf, or sticks, deftly arranged to keep it 
steady, and in transferring the patient from the litter to the bed, be 
careful to hold the broken parts so that there will be as little motion 
between them as possible. A door taken off its hinges makes a good 
litter; a board or a window shutter also. When an accident occurs in 
the fields, take rails and lay across them other rails, or brush, to make 
a firm support. An excellent litter may be made from a mattress, by 
fastening ropes at the corners. Lift all together and keep step. 

A man who has been hurt upon the head severely enough to lose 
consciousness, one who has a wound penetrating the chest, or who has 



CAKE OF PATIENT UNTIL THE DOCTOR'S ARRIVAL. 291 

lost a large amount of blood, should not, on coming to his senses, be 
allowed to walk, to mount a horse, or sit up in any vehicle; keep him 
lying down on the way from the place of accident to his bed. When 
injured in other ways, he may be carried on a " chair " made by two 
persons with their hands grasping each other's wrists, while the arms of 
the patient are around their neck. 

What to Do While Waiting for the Doctor.— After 

placing the patient in bed, banish all from the room, except one or 
two quiet attendants. Open the windows to let in fresh air, fan him 
when the room is warm, or he breathes with difficulty; allow no talk- 
ing within hearing. It is not positively certain, in any case of appa- 
rent unconsciousness, that he may not have recovered enough to 
understand what is being said before he begins to open his eyes, or 
move, and he may be unnecessarily excited at a very critical time, if 
compelled to hear his condition talked over. 

Send clear directions to the doctor as to the nature of the injury. 
It often happens that he finds, after traveling miles to visit a case, 
that an important instrument or medicine has been left at his office, 
because he had no reason to suppose he would need it. If bones are 
broken and splints are needed, by the time he has sent to his office for 
them, the swelling may become so great that they can not be applied. 
A broken blood vessel may become unmanageable during the delay in 
sending for the implements necessary to secure it firmly. If the mes- 
senger can not be trusted to remember the directions given him, let 
them be written; it will often save valuable time to do so. 

Have water heated, and bandages prepared, or rather let cloth be pro- 
vided ready for such bandages as may be wanted. It should be soft, 
clean, and free from starch. No sponge should ever be used on an 
open wound, that has ever been used before for any purpose. And it 
might be well here to add a caution against the bleached sponges sold 
on the streets in cities. At hospitals, the sponges used on patients 
are thrown away; these, gathered up by rag pickers, are bleached and 
sold as new sponges. They are very soft, and mothers like them for 
washing the baby, but they are dangerous. The bleaching material 
can not be depended upon to destroy the germs lodged in them from 
old sores, or diseased blood. 

It sometimes happens that a doctor can not be found, and the case 
needs immediate attention. Cleanliness and common sense will go far 
towards helping on recovery. Bear in mind that Nature has, already 



292 TO CLOSE FLESH WOUNDS. 

prepared, the materials for repairing injuries, and all the doctor can do 
is to remove obstacles, and give Nature a chance. 

Flesh Wounds. — Wash out any dirt, sand or other material 
that has lodged in the wound, then hunt for bits of cloth, wads, splint- 
ers of bone, pieces of metal and the like. The finger is the best 
guide, when the wound is large enough to admit it. Workmen whose 
flesh is covered with dust or dirt from their work must have their 
wounds carefully cleansed, for they can never heal permanently 
while dirt of any kind is left in them. Sometimes far more serious 
consequences than a failure to heal follow when wounds are not well 
cleansed. The dust from some metals poison them, endangering life. 
A boy about 10 years old was wounded on July 4th, in the palm of 
his hand, by a toy pistol. Two weeks later he died of lockjaw. The 
doctor who examined the wound after death found a paper wad, deep 
down, pressing upon the nerve, which had undoubtedly caused the 
lockjaw. 

After cleansing the wound, bring the separated parts neatly 
together; do not crowd them too close — there must be left some space 
for the edges to swell; it increases the scar to crowd them together, or 
to leave them too far apart. There are several ways of holding the 
edges of a wound: 1. By strips of adhesive plaster. It should be 
cut into strips about one-fourth of an inch wide, and long enough to 
reach over the wound about three inches on each side, if a large one 
The plaster is softened by heat; the strips may be warmed by wrap- 
ping them around a tea-kettle, or basin of hot water, cloth-side in. 
Lay one end of the warm strip on the diy skin, one side of the wound, 
pressing it down to make it stick; then, while holding the edges of the 
wound near together, fasten the free end of the strip on the dry skin 
of the opposite side. 

2. The edges of a wound which gapes widely may need to be 
sewed together. Use saddler's silk, wet it in water containing carbolic 
acid, and a common needle, when a surgeon's or glover's needle can not 
be had. Stitches are needed in locations where plaster can not be made 
to hold. These should be avoided when possible in wounds of the 
face, because they are liable to increase the scar. 

3. In some places a large wound may be closed by stitching 
through adhesive plaster, instead of the flesh, in this way. Cut the 
plaster in as wide strips as can be laid on smoothly; warm and fasten 



MANAGEMENT OF WOUNDS. 293 

on the flesh parallel with the edges of the wound, and at a little dis- 
tance from them. Leave about one-eighth inch of the plaster strip on 
the side of the wound, free; that is, not attached to the skin. Prepare 
the silk as before, and stitch through the free edges of the plaster, 
instead of the lips of the wound. Draw them near, but not too close 
together. 

When a wound bleeds freely, the dirt and foreign substances are 
commonly washed out by the blood. The haemorrhage stops only 
when a clot is formed; in dressing such wounds do not wash out the 
clot, but seal them up "in the blood." 

Scalp Wounds need special care to prevent erysipelas setting 
in. They must be kept clean, and may often be closed by tying the 
hair over them. One reason why wounds of the scalp so frequently 
prove dangerous is the unclean condition of the hair. As soon as the 
injury is received the whole head should be washed in soap and water, 
then rinsed in carbolized water, before dressing the wound perma- 
nently. The brain being so near, is always in danger when there is 
any inflammation of the scalp. 

Dressing WonndS. — Each surgeon has his favorite method of 
treating open wounds, and when the patient has an attending physi- 
cian, the treatment must not be interfered with. The law makes a 
medical practitioner responsible for his work only when he has been 
permitted to manage the case without hindrance from patient or 
friends. In some cases of open wounds, and under certain circum- 
stances, it imperils a patient's life, even to remove the dressings to 
examine them, unless precautions are taken, which none but a physi- 
cian would think of; therefore, do not forget that to meddle with a 
doctor's treatment is to assume a grave responsibility. It is right, if 
you have doubts in regard to the case, or suggestions to make, that 
you acquaint the physician personally with the fact, but never do so in 
the presence or within hearing of the patient. 

The edges of the cleansed wound having been brought near to- 
gether and firmly secured, lay over it a piece of soft, clean linen, 
moistened with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment. When the 
patient is healthy nothing more will be needed except to wrap up the 
parts or bandage them, to keep the edges of the wound from being 
drawn apart. Do not remove the dressings until the parts feel stiff 
or ache, or are uncomfortable; then open very carefully, so as not to 



294 DISINFECTION OF UNHEALTHY WOUNDS. 

break the tiny meshes which have been woven between the several 
surfaces. If it be necessary to remove the adhesive straps across the 
wound, begin to raise them at each end, peeling them off towards the 
wound, so as not to drag the edges apart. These straps, stitches or 
whatever holds them together, should be left undisturbed for several 
days, unless they become loose. If the wound has no unpleasant 
smell, and looks pink, do not wash it; the fluids that may have dried 
on the skin near the wound may be gently removed by soaking a bit 
of cotton, lint, or linen in the liniment, and using it to dissolve the 
dried material. Cover with a fresh piece of linen as at first, and use 
fresh wrappings or bandages to inclose it. Wounds are more fre- 
quently irritated and made unhealthy by too much care than by the 
lack of it. In all cases of wounds to be healed, when the patient 
shows signs of impure blood, give Happy Home Blood Purifier and 
Health Tonic regularly. It will hasten healing and lessen the size of 
the scar. 

Unhealthy Wounds.— A healthy wound, during the healing 
process, is covered with a thick, creamy, odorless fluid called pus; 
when the wound is injured by harsh treatment, as rubbing with a cloth 
or sponge, or irritated by applying ointments or salves, or when the 
blood is impure, this pus becomes thin, watery, foul-smelling, and 
healing goes on slowly. It then needs washing daily. Let your 
druggist prepare a five per cent, solution of carbolic acid; add two 
table-spoonfuls to one pint of warm water, in a clean bowl — this is 
called carbolized water. Do not rub the wound, but squeeze out the 
water from cloth or sponge, letting it flow over the surface to wash it 
off. Absorbent cotton is very useful, and should be provided when 
possible for these cases. Use a bit to soak up the moisture after wash- 
ing, then cover the wound with the dry cotton. This soaks up the 
unhealthy fluids that form on it, and keeps the surface clean. The 
same piece should never be used but once; burn it as soon as it is 
taken off. 

What to Do when the Clothing is on Fire.— The 

greatest danger is from breathing the flame; therefore, as the flame 
goes upward, the person on fire should lie down, or be thrown down. 
It is rare, indeed, that a person whose clothes are on fire has presence 
of mind to lie down, or do anything else that ought to be done; there- 
fore, any one witnessing such an accident should be prompt to act. A 



TREATMENT OF BURNS. 295 

rug, coat, shawl, or woolen blanket, or piece of carpet must be thrown 
over the flame to smother it. 

The treatment of burns and scalds depends upon the amount of 
surface covered, the depth and the location. They may be conveni- 
ently divided into three classes or degrees. Those belonging to the 
first decree are where the skin is only reddened, but the pain is severe. 
This form is most commonly caused by steam from a tea-kettle. 
Those of the second degree are blisters. The third degree includes all 
deep burns that destroy not only the skin, but the flesh beneath, 
making a yellow or black mass. The amount of pain caused by a 
burn or scald varies ; its presence is a good omen. A large burn, with 
no pain, means extreme danger. The amount of surface affected is 
of more importance than the depth of the burn; a scalding, which 
barely raises a blister, over a large part of the body, is far more 
dangerous than a small burn that destroys the tissues beneath the 
skin, because, in the former case, the action of the skin is interfered 
with and the body is poisoned in the same way as the gilded boy 
previously described, by retained perspiration. It is extremely rare 
for recovery to take place when more than one-eighth of the surface 
is scalded or burned. 

To Dress a Burn. — Burns of the first degree are very pain- 
ful, but not dangerous, unless they cover a very large surface. The 
best application to " take out the fire " is Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone 
Liniment; moisten old linen with it and lay on the burn, and cover 
with a dry cloth; change once or twice till the pain is wholly gone; 
then leave it bound up until all soreness has disappeared. Soft soap 
applied quickly; a paste made with bi-carbonate of soda and water 
spread on thickly; lard and finely powdered chalk made into a paste; 
cloths wrung out of cold water and frequently changed, are some of 
the other remedies which will give prompt relief. Burns of the 
second degree, that is, a blistered surface, must be dressed very gently. 
The clothing ought to be taken off carefully so as not to tear open the 
blisters. If it sticks at all, it should be cut off with a sharp knife or 
the shears. Keeping out the air is the main point in this kind of a 
burn. There should be applied at once a good liniment. Uncle Sam's 
Nerve and Bone Liniment soothes the pain, acts as an antiseptic, and 
favors healing. Carron oil, composed of equal parts of linseed oil 
and lime water, is also a good application. Apply the remedy on ab- 
sorbent cotton or lint, which should be saturated with it, and the burn 



296 



DANGERS OF COAL OIL AND GASOLINE. 



covered closely to keep out the air. In case neither of the above 
remedies can be had promptly, sift flour thickly over the blister and 
cover with cotton or linen. The first dressing should not be disturbed 
for 24 hours. Burns of the third degree, when they cover much 
of the surface, are generally fatal. The patient must be placed in 
bed; the clothing, or what remains of it, be cut away, ancf cotton 
batting or absorbent cotton, saturated with one of the preparations 
described for blisters, may be applied. A doctor should be sent for, 
because it will require skill to save life after a burn of this kind. 
When much of the skin has been destroyed the patient may die with- 
in a day or two from congestion or inflammation of internal organs, 
or, at a later period, from exhaustion, the result of long and profuse 
discharges from the sores. 

Coal Oil and Gasoline Explosions.— Coal oil and gasoline 

explosions furnish the greater number of seriously burned' patients 
which come under a physician's care. Accidents occur because people 
do not understand the nature of these very common articles. Good 
coal oil can not be set on fire with a match. Pour a little into a saucer, 
light a match and touch the oil ; if it takes fire it is dangerous to use 
in lamps; oil which is up to the legal standard will quench the 
flame of a match as if it were water. Spill a little of the good oil 
upon the carpet or floor and leave it — after a time it will disappear; we 
say it evaporates; by that we mean that the oil has been changed into 
a gas, that has mingled with the air and been carried away. Turn a 
lamp very low in a closed room; after an hour or two, go in directly 
from the fresh air; the smell of coal oil will be so powerful that you 
open the doors and windows at once to let out the gas. It is gas, not 
oil, that is burned in our coal-oil lamps. The wick draws the oil up 
to the flame, it is heated and vaporizes, or is transformed into gas, 
before it burns; when the flame is turned low, the oil vaporizes faster 
than the gas can be burned, hence it is given off into the room to pol- 
lute the air, and irritate the throat and lungs of people breathing the 
air. Coal oil standing in a can in a warm kitchen vaporizes slowly, 
but the space between the oil and the top of the can becomes filled with 
gas in the course of a day ; it is this which makes it dangerous to fill a 
lighted lamp, or to fill any unlighted lamp before an open fire; as the 
can is turned down to pour out the oil the gas flows out, and the 
instant it touches a flame it takes fire; then follows the explosion. A 
gentleman in a city office placed his office lamp on a stool about five 



CARELESSNESS CAUSES MOST ACCIDENTS FROM COAL OIL, ETC. 297 

feet from an open stove in which was a glowing bed of coals. He took 
his can to fill the lamp ; an explosion followed, in which he was con- 
siderably burned, and, after the fire company had departed, he found 
his carelessness had caused a damage of $200 to his office. He was 
fortunate that it was no more serious, but feels that he paid rather 
dearly to learn why, and how, coal oil explodes. A lady who is 
regarded among her acquaintances as highly intelligent, and was for 
many years before her marriage a teacher, one winter's evening noticed 
the light of her lamp growing dim. The girl had neglected filling it; 
around the floor near the table were playing her four little children. 
The lamp was one of the kind which has an opening at one side closed 
with a brass cap. She turned the light low, took off the cap, and 
started to fill the lamp from the can; a friend who was spending the 
evening with her, cried out in alarm, and sprang to catch the can from 
her hand, but too late ; the tiny stream of gas had already touched the 
flame, the explosion came ; both the women and the children were set 
on fire. With unusual presence of mind they made good use of the 
rugs, which were fortunately in the room, and all were saved 
except the baby, which had crept up to, and was clinging to her 
mother's skirts at the instant of the explosion. She was cruelly 
burned, and died in a few hours. This is cited to show that it is not 
so much ignorance as carelessness which causes the numerous acci- 
dents of which we read. 

Gasoline is far more treacherous than coal oil; its first cousins, 
benzine and naphtha, are always dangerous in the hands of stupid or 
careless people. Several years ago it was quite the fashion for ladies 
to clean their light kids with one of these articles. To do it nicely the 
kids were put on the hands, and were then washed in one bowl of 
benzine or gasoline, rinsed in another, then dried on the hands. 
Occasionally a lady would hold her hands before the fire to dry them 
more rapidly; of course they would take fire, and the hands would be 
horribly burned before anything could be done. These accidents 
became so frequent that this method of cleaning gloves has been well- 
nigh abandoned. Many people are misled regarding the danger of 
these fluids by the alleged tests of safety which dealers show their 
customers. Gasoline will be poured on the floor, lighted with a match 
and burned off without setting the boards on fire; hence it can do no 
harm if it does take fire, argues the seller. The error is not in tak- 
ing into account the explosive gases that are certain to be formed in 



298 PRECAUTIONS IN THE USE OF COAL OIL. 

any receptacle containing coal oil, benzine, gasoline, and other pro- 
ducts of petroleum while in a warm atmosphere. Those who follow 
these rules will never meet with an accident from the use of lamps or 
heaters containing oil or gasoline : 

1. Never fill a lamp while it is burning. 

2. Never fill it after dark, if it can be avoided, and never under 
any circumstances before an open fire. 

3. Never fill a coal oil or gasoline stove while it is lighted by 
even the most minute flame. 

4. Never use either lamps or stoves that are leaky. 

5. Never allow the reservoir to become very hot by confining the 
air about it; the contents may be vaporized by such heat, and the gas 
be forced out in contact with the flame. 

6. Never allow lamps or stoves to become empty while lighted 
— keep them full; to do so uses no more material, and makes them 
much safer. 

7. Keep the air vents, which all good lamps and stoves possess, 
•open and free from soot, dirt and grease. 

8. Do not use glass lamps where little children can get at them. 
It is better to be over cautious than by a single act of carelessness 

cause the loss of a human life, or make a cripple, to say nothing of the 
loss of property which usually accompanies the accidents here re- 
ferred to. 

Freezing. — It is better to thaw slowly; if possible place the 
patient, insensible from cold, in a cool water bath; when only a part 
of the body is frozen, place the affected parts in cold water. Snow 
may be used to thaw the parts, but if the blood is frozen avoid rubbing 
the flesh, for the little crystals of ice in the vessels will wound the 
delicate tissues, and perhaps lead to serious consequences. Increase 
the warmth slowly. When breathing begins, take the patient from the 
bath or remove the snow from around the body, wipe it dry and cover 
with blankets. As soon as he can swallow give warm milk, broth or a 
hot sling. After immersion in cool bath for fifteen to twenty minutes, 
if there be no attempt to breathe take him out, wipe dry and practice 
artificial respiration while assistants slap the feet and hands and rub 
the limbs to restore circulation. When a small part of the body only 
is frozen, do not place it in warm water or put hot things about it 
until the pain which follows warming up has ceased or diminished. 



FREEZING SUNSTROKE BRUISES. 299 

The after-treatment for frozen limbs is the same as recommended for 
burns. 

Prevention Of Freezing. — During exposure to severe cold, a 
feeling of sleepiness means danger. If impossible to reach shelter 
immediately, look about for a snow drift sheltered from the wind by a 
hill and crawl into it. This makes a safe shelter from storm. 

Sunstroke. — Bemove the patient to a shady place, or hold an 
umbrella over him. Bathe the head with cool water, and fan it to 
evaporate the moisture; this draws the heat from the brain, and is 
better than packing it in ice, which tends to drive the blood from the 
surface in upon the already overloaded brain. If the face is flushed, 
prop him up in a sitting posture. As soon as the patient can swal- 
low, give cool drinks — but do not give stimulants. The patient must 
avoid exposure to the hot sun until he entirely recovers; if this be 
impossible, let him wear a light straw hat, that is well ventilated and 
wet his hair or lay a wet sponge on the top of his head. 

Bruises, when not very serious, are cured by binding on a piece 
of raw beef steak. Change it for a fresh piece twice every 24 hours. 
Tincture of cayenne pepper (capsicum), painted on with a brush im- 
mediately after the injury is received, prevents a bruised spot from 
turning black. Do not use this where the skin is broken. To allevi- 
ate the pain apply cloths wrung out of very hot water, and frequently 
renew them; sometimes ice-cold water will do better. Uncle Sam's Nerve 
and Bone Liniment is an admirable dressing, whether the skin be whole 
or broken. When the injured place has turned black before anything 
is done, it will turn slowly from black to dingy yellow; this is a neces- 
sary step to recovery, and very little can be done to hasten the change 
except to apply the liniment. In all cases where the head is bruised 
avoid stimulants; apply cold water or ice to stop the bleeding; give 
plenty of fresh air; prop the patient up, and keep him quiet. Mustard 
may be placed on the wrists and ankles — but do not let it blister. After 
all injuries to the head that are severe enough to make the patient 
unconscious, a doctor should be consulted; for we are never certain 
when we have seen the last of such injuries. 

Swallowing Glass. — We give the treatment which saved the 
life of a child ten months old, who had swallowed some fragments 
of glass from a broken lamp chimney that it had found on the floor. 
The same treatment is recommended for pins, or any pointed or sharp 



300 CHOKING BITES AND STINGS. 

objects that find their way down the throat. In this instance the mother 
had been in the habit of giving the infant pieces of ice, and doubtless 
it thought the glass was ice. It was immediately given a dose of cas- 
tor oil. Flaxseed and slippery elm tea were also given in as large 
quantities as the child could be persuaded to swallow. A few hours 
after the first dose of oil, the glass began to pass. A dose of oil was 
given daily for four days, and more than 70 pieces of glass, varying 
from \ to \ of an inch in length, were collected. At the end of six 
days no more glass came away, and the child remained well. 

Choking. — Examine the throat, and pull out any obstruction by 
the finger that is within reach. A child may be lifted by the heels, 
at the same time spatting it between the shoulder-blades. Tickling 
the throat to excite vomiting will often throw out anything sticking 
in it. When vomiting fails to drive out the substance, and no 
medical assistance can be obtained, take a whale-bone, fasten se- 
curely to one end of it a piece of sponge the size of a marble; let the 
patient throw the head well back, put the tongue out, and push the 
sponge gently down the throat. Fish-bones and pins may be crowded 
down by swallowing a dry crust or cracker; when they are pushed 
into the stomach, eat mush or soft bread to envelop them and prevent 
further injury. Coins seldom do harm unless they are bronze; this 
material is liable to be partially dissolved by the fluids in the intes- 
tinal canal, and give rise to poisoning. A brisk cathartic should be 
given immediately, to remove it as soon as possible. When objects 
fall into the air passages, cough and obstruction of breath show that 
something serious has occurred. Sometimes it may be lifted out by 
the finger; sneezing will occasionally dislodge it. If there is no snuff 
to be had instantly, give a pinch of cayenne or black pepper. 

Foreign Objects in the Nose. — Let the child take a deep 

breath through the mouth, then shut the lips, close the free nostril 
and make an attempt to force the breath through the obstructed nos- 
tril — at the same instant spat it on the back. Sneezing will often drive 
it out. Sometimes, when the object is not very high up, it may be 
hooked out with a hair-pin. Press the finger against the nose on that 
side above the object, to keep it from being pushed in further while 
trying to remove it. 

Bites and StingS. — Soda, made into a paste with water, is a 
good application to relieve pain and swelling. Moist clay or common 



PREVENTION OF HYDROPHOBIA. 301 

mud is good for bee-stings; salt and water also. Uncle Sam's Nerve 
and Bone Liniment prevents any serious effect. 

Mad Dog Bites. — It is the better plan to treat all dog-bites as 
suspicious. Suck the wound thoroughly, spitting out the saliva, and 
rinsing the mouth afterwards with carbolized water ; next fill the wound 
with dry salt; this extracts the juices from the flesh and draws the 
poison with them. While the salt is becoming moist, heat the poker, 
or any small iron or steel rod, white hot (heat the tine of the carving 
fork if there be nothing else at hand) ; wash out the wound, pour on a 
stream of water to carry off all the salt; then burn it thoroughly to 
destroy any remnant of the poison. People very often waste precious 
time in waiting for a doctor; by the time one is found the mischief is 
done, for the poison has been taken up into the circulation and carried 
away from the wound, where it can not be reached by any treatment 
known at present. The accident may occur at a distance from the 
house, and where nothing can be had until too late, unless the wound 
be immediately cleaned by suction. In these cases tie a handkerchief 
about the limb above it, and draw it tight enough to almost stop the 
circulation — seek help at once. 

Broken Bones. — No one ought to undertake the management 
of broken bones without a surgeon to direct. An improperly united 
bone not only deforms it, but is likely to injure the joints which con- 
nect it with other bones, and to interfere with the action of the muscles 
attached to it. As these imperfections disable the patient permanently, 
it makes the one who has managed the case legally responsible for 
damage done through ignorance. As there are localities where it is 
sometimes difficult or impossible to procure a doctor's services, we 
give briefly the method of taking care of broken bones. 

The bones of a leg being broken, they may be kept from moving 
by binding the injured leg to the sound one. This can be done by 
tying a handkerchief or strip of cloth around both, above the knees, 
and two more at intervals below. When the collar-bone is broken put 
the arm in a short sling, supporting the elbow well. When a joint is 
dislocated do not pull hard upon, or treat it harshly, to return the bone 
to its socket; there is danger of breaking the bone. A gentle stretch- 
ing of the muscles, just enough to permit the head of the bone to 
glide over the edge of its socket, is all that is needed; it will then slip 
into place. The fragments of a broken knee-cap are kept together 



302 



MANAGEMENT OF A BROKEN BONE. 



when the patient lies down with the heel raised. Permanent lame- 
ness will follow this accident, unless care is used to secure perfect 
union of the broken fragments. All bones that are drawn apart and 
displaced must be brought as near together as possible, restored to 
their natural position, and fastened until Nature has knit the broken 
ends together. 

To Dress a Limb after Replacing a Broken Bone. — Pack the 
hollows of the limb with cotton batting, lint or oakum, to make a 
straight surface. Prepare two splints (doctors usually have ready 
prepared splints to fit all parts), from thin board, shingles, heavy 
pasteboard, tin, or any material that will keep the limb firmly in 
place. When one splint only is needed, and a straight one is used, 
it should be a little wider than the limb. After packing the limb 
to protect all projecting parts from pressure, lay on the splints, 
and fasten them in place with a piece of bandage tied around at 
each end; and, if the splint be a long one, it will need a third piece 
around the middle. Apply the bandage smoothly, but not tight, as 
shown in Fig. 23. There must be an allowance made for swelling, 
which is often considerable. The limb is sometimes badly swollen be- 
fore any help is obtained, and then nothing can be done for a day or 
two, until the swelling subsides. Dry or moist heat may be applied to 
ease the pain, and the injured part must be kept perfectly quiet. It 
requires from ten to fourteen days for a bone to unite in a healthy per- 
son; that is, when it is not splintered or crushed. Unhealthy patients, 
especially those of scrofulous constitutions, and those who have the 
bone badly shattered, will be confined to their beds for months. On 
removal of the splints, the muscles will be wasted and weak; rubbing 
and kneading them for half an hour daily, using Uncle Sam's Liniment 
at the same time, will increase their strength rapidly. The patient 
must be cautious for some time about bearing the full weight of the 
body upon the limb, until the new bone has become thoroughly hard, 
so that it will not bend. 

Restoration of the Apparently Drowned.— The sav- 
ing of life, in cases of apparent drowning, depends upon prompt- 
ness in doing the right thing as soon as the victim is taken out of 
the water. The time spent in seeking a doctor will usually seal his 
fate, if nothing be done until the doctor arrives. The air in the air 
cells, which is only drawn upon when we breathe very deep, is what 
keeps one alive for some time after having the external air cut off 






RESTORATION OF THE APPARENTLY DROWNED. 303 

from the lungs. Were this not the case, life could not be preserved 
longer than three minutes under these circumstances. Persons who 
have been under water half an hour have been restored, after showing 
no sign of life for more than an hour; but in all instances success 
was due to prompt treatment, began the moment they were brought 
ashore. Every effort ought to be made to save life by keeping up 
artificial respiration for at least an hour. Two relics of barbarism, 
still in vogue among the ignorant, ought to be prevented at all hazards — 
namely, rolling the patient on a barrel, and blowing air into the lungs 
with a bellows. 

The following rules for artificial respiration, are copied from the 
annual report of the United Life Saving Service, and are of the 




Fig. 26. 

Showing the first step taken, by which the chest is emptied of air, and the ejection of any 
fluids swallowed is assisted. 

greatest value, not only in accidents from drowning, but in all cases 
where a patient has been smothered or strangled. 

Rule 1. — Loosen the Clothing. — Unless in danger of freezing, 
do not move the patient, but instantly expose the face to a current 
of fresh air, wipe dry the mouth and nostrils, rip the clothing so 
as to expose the chest and waist, and give two or three quick, smart 
slaps on the stomach and chest with the open hand. If, however, 
there is reason to believe that considerable time has elapsed since the 
patient became insensible, do not lose further time by practising Rule 
1, but proceed immediately to Rule 2. After loosening clothes, etc., if 
the patient does not revive, then proceed as stated in Rule 2. (See 
Fig. 26.) 

Rule 2. — Open the Mouth. — If the jaws are clinched, separate 



304 IMITATION OF NATURAL BREATHING. 

them, and keep the mouth open by placing between the teeth a cork 
or small bit of wood; turn the patient face downward, a large bundle 
of tightly rolled clothing being placed beneath the stomach, and press 
heavily over it for half a minute, or so long as fluids flow freely from 
the mouth. 

Rule 3. — Keep the Tongue from Falling into the Throat. — To 
produce breathing, clear the mouth and throat of mucus by intro- 
ducing into the throat the corner of a handkerchief wrapped closely 
around the fore-finger; turn the patient on the back, the roll of 
clothing being so placed beneath it as to raise the pit of the stomach 
above the level of any other part of the body. (See Fig. 27.) If there 




Fig. 27 

and action of the c 
and inspiration of air. 



Showing position and action of the operator in alternately producing artificial expiration 
" tic 



be another person present, let him, with a piece of dry cloth, hold the tip 
of the tongue out of one corner of the mouth (this prevents the tongue 
from falling back and choking the entrance to the windpipe), and with 
the other hand grasp both wrists and keep the arms forcibly stretched 
back above the head, thereby increasing the prominence of the ribs, 
which tends to enlarge the chest. The two last-named positions are 
not, however, absolutely essential to success. 

Rule 4. — Method of Imitating Natural Breathing. — Kneel be- 
side or astride the patient's hips, and with the balls of the thumbs 
resting on either side of the pit of the stomach, let the fingers 
fall into the grooves between the short ribs, so as to afford the best 
grasp of the waist. Now, using your knees as a pivot, throw all your 
weight forward on your hands, and at the same time squeeze the waist 
between them, as if you wished to force everything in the chest 
upward out of the mouth; deepen the pressure while you can count 
slowly one, two, three; then suddenly let go with a final push, which 



ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION MUST BE KEPT UP FOE HOURS. 305 

springs you back to your first kneeling position. Eemain erect on 
your knees while you can count one, two, three; then repeat the same 
motions as before, at a rate gradually increased from four or five to fif- 
teen times in a minute, and continue this bellows movement with the 
same regularity that is observable in the natural motions of breathing 
which you are imitating. If natural breathing be not restored after 
a trial of the bellows movement for the space of three or four min- 
utes, then turn the patient a second time on the stomach, as directed in 
Rule 2, rolling the body in the opposite direction from that in which 
it was first turned, for the purpose of freeing the air passages from 
any remaining water. Continue the artificial respiration from one to 
four hours, or until the patient breathes, according to Rule 3, and for 
awhile after the appearance of returning life, carefully aid the first 
short gasps until deepened into full breaths. 

Rule 5. — Promote the Warmth of the Body — Continue the dry- 
ing and rubbing, which should have been unceasingly practised from 
the beginning by the assistants, taking care not to interfere with 
the means employed to produce breathing. Thus the limbs of the 
patient should be rubbed, always in an upward direction toward the 
body, with firm-grasping pressure and energy, using the bare hands, 
dry flannels, or handkerchiefs, continuing the friction under the blank- 
•ets or over the dry clothing. The warmth of the body can also be 
promoted by the application of hot flannels to the stomach and arm- 
pits, bottles or bladders of hot water, heated bricks, etc., to the limbs 
and soles of the feet. 

Rule 6. — After- Treatment. — As soon as breathing is established, 
let the patient be stripped of all wet clothing, wrapped in blankets 
only, put to bed comfortably warm, but with a free circulation of 
fresh air, and left to perfect rest. Give aromatic spirits of ammo- 
nia in half tea-spoonful doses, in water; an equal amount of Jamaica 
ginger, or a tea made by pouring half a pint of boiling water on a tea- 
spoonful of freshly ground cayenne pepper, or use any other stimu- 
lants at hand, every ten or fifteen minutes, for the first hour, and as 
often thereafter as may seem expedient. After reaction is fully estab- 
lished, there is great danger of congestion of the lungs; and, if perfect 
rest is not maintained for at least forty-eight hours, it sometimes oc- 
curs that the patient is seized with great difficulty of breathing, and 
death is liable to follow, unless immediate relief is afforded. In such 
cases, apply a large mustard plaster over the breast. If the patient 



306 CLINCHED JAWS AND CONTRACTED FINGERS NOT A SIGN OF DEATH. 

gasps for breath before the mustard takes effect, assist the breathing 
by carefully repeating the artificial respiration. 

Clinching of the Jaws not a Sign of Death. — Dr. Labordette, 
the supervising surgeon of the hospital of Lisieux, in France, ap- 
pears to have established that the clinching of the jaws and the 
semi-contraction of the fingers, which have hitherto been considered 
signs of death, are, in fact, evidence of remaining vitality. After nu- 
merous experiments with apparently drowned persons, and also with 
animals, he concludes that these are only signs accompanying the 
first stage of suffocation by drowning, the jaws and hands becoming 
relaxed when death ensues. The rigor mortis, or muscular rigidity of 
death, comes later, after this temporary relaxation. The mere clinch- 
ing of the jaws and semi -contraction of the hands must not be con- 
sidered as reasons for the discontinuance of efforts to save life, but 
should serve as a stimulant to vigorous and prolonged efforts to quicken 
vitality. Persons engaged in the tasks of resuscitation are, therefore, 
earnestly desired to take hope and encouragement for the life of the 
sufferer from the signs above referred to, and to continue their endeav- 
ors accordingly. In a number of cases Dr. Labordette restored to 
life persons whose jaws were so firmly clinched that, to aid respiration, 
their teeth had to be forced apart with iron instruments. 

Hanging. — Upon the discovery of a person hanging, unless the 
body is quite cold, cut it down at once, remove the rope, strap or 
whatever has been used to suspend it; loosen the collar, neck-bands and 
waist-bands, and begin artificial respiration. The ignorant idea that 
it is not lawful to cut down a body, or remove it from the spot where 
it is found, until a coroner arrives, has destroyed many a life that 
might, with timely effort, have been saved. It is a poor reflection 
upon the manners, not to allude to the kindly feeling of the average 
by-standers on such occasions, that we have reason for adding the fol- 
lowing advice: No person who is entirely sane will resort to hanging 
as a means of death; it is too uncertain, too painful, and is repugnant 
to every one in his senses. It is real or imaginary trouble which 
nerves the unfortunate one to this desperate act. It makes no differ 
ence to the poor, bewildered brain whether this trouble be real or 
imaginary — for the time being it is real enough ; therefore, it should be 
respected by those to whom it has been betrayed by this rash step. In 
case there are signs of recovery, before consciousness is fully restored, 
banish all from the room except one or two quiet attendants, and be 



EMETICS AND ANTIDOTES FOE POISONING. 307 

sure to send away, out of sight and hearing, any one associated with 
the trouble that caused the act. Allow no reproaches to be uttered, 
no expressions of curiosity or astonishment. It is usually better to 
place the patient under the care of a stranger who possesses the quiet 
tact to soothe and allay all excitement. The patient ought to be 
removed from home for a time — a change of scene and surroundings 
brings a healing peace to an overwrought brain. It is not necessary to 
inquire too closely into the conditions which have produced the trou- 
ble; it is enough that they have brought the patient to this unfortunate 
pass. 

Accidents from Poison. — Always Send for a Physician; 
the After- Treatment Requires Special Skill to Save Life. — The first 
thing to be done is to remove the poison from the stomach, or to 
neutralize it. When it has not eaten off the skin of lips and mouth, 
or, in other words, when the substance swallowed is not a corrosive 
poison, give an emetic. While waiting for it to be prepared, tickle 
the throat with the finger to excite vomiting. 

Emetics. — 1. Stir one tea-spoonful of ground mustard into a 
pint of warm water; drink it all as quickly as possible. 2. Sulphate 
of zinc, a level tea-spoonful in a glass of warm water. When these 
must be sent for, give salt and water, flour and water, milk, etc., to 
envelop the poison in the stomach and delay its passage out of it, 
all the time keeping up the effort to induce vomiting by tickling the 
throat. Ipecac, lobelia, and boneset are too slow in their action. 
After the stomach is partially emptied give lard, olive oil, white of 
egg or milk. When the poison is corrosive, and has eaten off the 
skin of lips, tongue and throat, the immediate danger is in destroying 
the coats of the stomach ; and substances to protect the surface, such as 
lard, oil, etc., must be swallowed before taking an emetic. 

Powerful acids, like aqua fortis, sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol), 
acetic acid, etc., must be neutralized by alkalies, such as magnesia, soap 
and chalk. 

Powerful alkalies, like ley, caustic potash, and ammonia, are neu- 
tralized by vinegar and lemon juice. 

While waiting for the antidote, or if the nature of the poison is 
unknown, yet the mouth and throat look raw and burned, give lard, 
olive or linseed oil, or even castor oil, cream, butter, white of egg, 
flour and water or milk — the object being to coat the stomach with 
an oily or pasty substance for its protection. 



308 



CLASSIFICATION OF POISONS. 



CLASSIFICATION OF POISONS. 



Most articles from which accidents result are named in the fol- 



lowing list: 



IRRITANT POISONS. 



'Acids.— Sulphuric (Oil of Vit- 
riol), Nitric (Aqua fortis), 
Hydrochloric (Spirits of Salt), 
Oxalic, Acetic, Tartaric, and 
Carbolic. 

Alkalies. — Potash (Ley), Soda. 
Ammonia (Hartshorn). 

Metallic — Arsenic, Antimony, 
Lead, Nitrate of Silver, (Lu- 
nar Caustic), Copper, Paris 
Green, Corrosive Sublimate, 
Kough on Rats. 

Vegetable. — Aloes, Gamboge, 
Podophyllin, Blood-root, Lo- 
belia, Poison Ivy, Hellebore, 
Tobacco, Strychnine. 



ANTIDOTES. 
Chalk, Magne- 
sia, Lime- 
water, Milk. 

Vinegar, Lem- 
on Juice, Oil. 



Emetics. 



Emetics, fol- 
low by oil or 
milk. If lips 
or mouth are 
raw, give 
oil, lard or 
milk, until 
emetic 
ready. 



ANIMAL POISONS. 



Opiates. — Morphine, Lauda- 
num, Paregoric, Opium. 
Chloral, Cocaine, Chloro- 

DYNE, PRUSSIC AciD, PeACH ^ 

Stone Meats, Henbane, Al- 
cohol, Brandy, Wine, All 
Intoxicants. 



Strong Coffee. 

Keep the pa 
tient awake. 

Hold Ammo- 
nia to the 



CAUTION REGARDING INSECT POISONS. 



309 



POISONOUS VAPORS. 



NARCOTIC POISONS. 



Fresh Air, Ar- 
tificial Re- 
spiration. 



See Special 
Directions- 



' Carbonic Acid Gas. 
Sulphuretted Hydrogen. 
Coal Gas. 
Chloroform, etc J 

f Mad Dog-bites, Snake-bites, 
Bee- stings, poisoned wounds. 

Tainted meat, as bad fish, sau- 
sages, diseased pork, beef, 
game or poultry. 

Accidental swallowing of 
Leeches, Spanish Flies. 



Always select the antidote that can be had the most quickly, and use 
it while waiting for others. Act promptly — a few minutes may destroy 
all chances. 

A Caution is necessary in regard to fruit and vegetables growing 
where poisons are used to destroy worms or bugs. Hellebore sprinkled 
on currant bushes may adhere to the fruit in sufficient quantity to be 
dangerous, unless the currants are well washed before eating. Cab- 
bages, and even potatoes, have been known to contain enough Paris 
green to endanger life. 



SPECIAL DIRECTIONS FOR TREATING CASES SUFFERING 
FROM POISON. 

Acids, such as oil vitriol, aqua fortis, spirit of salt, oxalic, acetic or 
tartaric acids. Mix magnesia with water, as thick as can be easily 
swallowed Scrape chalk, or pound it to a powder; take it in the 
same way. If neither chalk nor magnesia is at hand, take plaster 
from the wall, pound to fine powder; mix with water and swal- 
low. Other remedies are warm, strong soap-suds, wood-ashes ? 
soda, potash, gruel, linseed tea. 

Carbolic Acid. — Give molasses, or sugar, with lime water If spilled 
on the skin, cover the place quickly with molasses, sugar-syrup, 
or moist sugar. 



310 SPECIAL DIRECTIONS FOR POISON CASES. 

Acid Burns of the Skin. — Any of the acids already named produce 
serious burns, when spilled on the skin. Cover the parts touched 
as quickly as possible with a thick paste of magnesia and chalk; 
do not ivash it tvith water until the antidote has had a chance to 
neutralize the acid. 

Alkalies. — Ammonia, soda, potash, ley from leaching ashes. Give vine- 
gar and water, lemonade, sour milk, sweet oil, flaxseed tea. 

Arsenic. — Induce vomiting by tickling the throat, placing snuff, salt, 
or mustard on the tongue, or an emetic, as mustard and warm 
water, salt and water, etc. Wash out the stomach, if possi- 
ble. Antidote. — Peroxide of iron, a spoonful for a dose. Iron- 
rust stirred in sweetened water, flaxseed tea, flour and water, 
white of eggs beaten up with water, soap-suds, or magnesia in 
water. 

Antimony. — Give strong black tea, strong coffee, tea made with oak 
bark or tannic acid. Linseed or slippery elm water later. 

Lead. — Sugar of lead is the form which suddenly produces dangerous 
effects. Excite vomiting; then give epsom salts, white of eggs, 
soap-suds, and milk. 

Nitrate of Silver. — Salt in large quantities; follow with flaxseed tea, 
slippery elm or gum water. 

Copper Utensils sometimes poison food prepared or allowed to stand 
in them several hours. Give milk, white of egg mixed with 
water; then produce vomiting, and a cathartic to produce purging. 
Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills are appropriate. 

Paris Green. — Treat same as arsenic. Bright green wall-paper and 
card-board, also some toys, are painted with this; and, if children 
are allowed to put such things in their mouth, they may be dan- 
gerously poisoned. 

Corrosive Sublimate is used in solution as a bed-bug poison. Excite 
vomiting immediately. Give white of eggs, a dozen in a quart 
of cold water, as quickly as possible. Next in value is molasses 
or sugar- syrup, starch boiled in water, flour- paste and milk. 

Bough on Rats. — Treat like arsenic. 






VEGETABLE POISONS AND THEIR ANTIDOTES. 31.1 

Phosphorus. — Children eat heads off matches. Some kinds of rat 
paste contains phosphorus, known by the smell and showing light 
in the dark. Never give oil, lard, or any kind of grease. Excite 
vomiting. Give magnesia mixed with water; slippery elm water, 
or flaxseed tea. 

Aloes, Gamboge, Podophyllin and Blood-root, when taken in over- 
doses, produce severe pain in the abdomen and other troublesome 
consequences. If it be discovered at once that an over-dose has 
been taken, excite vomiting to unload the stomach. If several 
hours have elapsed, give at once hot peppermint tea with paregoric, 
or a small dose of laudanum, and keep the patient quiet in bed. 



Lobelia causes vomiting, and sometimes dangerous faintness and weak- 
ness. Give hot sling, wine, or any kind of liquor in small doses, 
or Ave drops of ammonia in water; repeat every ten minutes till 
better. 

Tobacco is extremely poisonous when swallowed. The juice applied 
to a child's head for an eruption has caused death. If the tobacco 
has been swallowed, produce vomiting as soon as possible; and, if 
patient be very weak, give stimulants, strong coffee, few drops of 
ammonia in cold water, or liquor. 

Belladonna, Henbane, Jimson or Jamestown Weed and Hellebore may 
be treated alike. Excite vomiting, wash out the stomach; give 
warm water injections to clear out the bowels. After this is done 
give lime water, a table- spoonful in milk every five minutes, as long 
as it can be taken; and, under the directions of a physician only, 
small doses of opium may be given after it. 

Prussic Acid, Oil of Bitter Almonds, Laurel Water, Peach Leaves, 
Peach Kernels. — Remedies must be used instantly, if they are to 
do any good. Hold ammonia to the nose; mix one tea- spoonful 
of ammonia with one pint of water; drink as much as possible of 
this. Dash cold water in the face, and excite vomiting. 

Poison Ivy produces an eruption and great swelling of the parts 
affected. (See Treatment for Poison Sumac.) 

Poison Sumac, or Rhus, produces a similar effect. Apply over the 
eruption cloths wet with soft water, containing in each pint either 
one of the following drugs: One tea-spoonful of aqua ammonia; 



312 MUSHROOM POISONING NAKCOTIC POISONS. 

one heaping tea- spoonful bi-carbonate soda or saleratus, or the 
same amount of powdered borax. Change the cloths frequently 
for twelve hours, and then apply Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Lini- 
ment. Cloths wet in a tea made from lobelia leaves is sometimes 
useful. // the seeds are eaten, produce vomiting, and give strong 
coffee or other stimulants. After cleaning out the stomach, give a 
cathartic. 

Strychnine. — Excite vomiting by tickling the throat, give mustard and 
water, or sulphate of zinc, 20 grains in a glass of warm water. 
Wash out the stomach; then give camphor, ten drops of the tincture 
in water, every ten minutes, until about five doses are given. If the 
patient be in spasms when discovered, chloroform held before the 
nose, so that it can be inhaled, will subdue it, and give a chance to 
try the other measures advised. 

Mushroom Poisoning. — The poisonous effects do not usually show 
themselves until five to ten hours after the mushrooms have been 
eaten. Give an emetic, followed by a cathartic; keep up the 
strength with stimulants. The best stimulant for the purpose is 
aromatic spirits of ammonia, half a tea-spoonful in a spoonful of 
water: repeat the dose in fifteen minutes, if the symptoms are very 
alarming. If the poison begins its work immediately after eating, 
produce vomiting, and let the patient drink large quantities — a 
pint or more at a time — of warm water and vinegar to help on the 
vomiting, and wash out the stomach. A table -spoonful of strong 
vinegar to a pint of water will be the right quantity. 

Opium, Morphine, Laudanum. — Excite vomiting; give large quantities 
of very strong coffee as soon as it can be prepared. Keep the 
patient roused — make him walk about incessantly; if he is too far 
gone for this, spat the feet, rub the limbs, whip the body with 
switches, and try artificial respiration. If the blood can be kept 
circulating long enough for the system to get rid of the poi- 
son, the patient may be saved Spatting, switching, moving 
about, with an occasional trial of artificial respiration, has been 
kept up for twenty-four hours without ceasing, and the patient 
saved at last. 

Chloral Hydrate. — Vomiting, stimulants, strong coffee and dropping the 
head lower than the body, to cause a flow of blood to the brain; 
when the breathing grows faint : try artificial respiration. Keep 
the tongue from falling back and strangling the patient. 






GAS AND CHLOROFORM POISONING. 313 

Poisoning by Gases. — A person overcome by charcoal or other gas 
should be taken into the open air, or the doors and windows of the 
room he is carried to (for he should not be left in the room where 
the accident happened) should be wide open. Sprinkle cold water 
on the face, and resort at once to artificial respiration. Do not 
attempt to give stimulants or anything else until breathing is re- 
stored. After he breathes naturally, give strong coffee. 

Chloroform. — Lower the head below the shoulders, draw the tongue 
forward to open the windpipe; practice artificial respiration; open 
the windows, and let in the air freely. Allow no one near the 
patient, except those working over him. 

Alcohol, Brandy, Whisky, etc. — Give an emetic, or wash out the 
stomach; pour cold water on the head and spine. Inject into the 
bowels a pint of cold water containing two table-spoonfuls of salt. 

Poisoned Wounds. — An injury produced by a knife or other instru- 
ment that has been used on diseased meat, wet with a poisonous 
liquid, or is foul from any other cause, will be infected, and must 
receive prompt attention. Cuts from knives employed in skinning 
dead animals are often very dangerous. Such a wound should be 
immediately washed out with clean water and cauterized. Nitrate 
of silver (lunar caustic), crystalized carbolic acid, strong tincture 
of iodine, a red-hot knitting needle are all efficient cauterizers; 
select the one that can be had first — for time is an important object 
in arresting the poison before it is taken into the blood. 

Tainted or Diseased Meats. — Fish that has begun to decay is extremely 
poisonous. The skillful cook can flavor oysters so as to cover all 
evidence of staleness when they are in a condition unfit for food. 
Diseased meats, in the form of sausages, or underdone may be 
eaten without a suspicion of danger. Chickens which feed upon 
offal — and chickens at best are scavengers — need extra care in 
cooking to make them wholesome. A chicken cooked in a tightly 
covered kettle is very poisonous to some people; while, if the same 
fowl be left uncovered for half an hour after it begins to boil, it 
may be safely eaten. Owing to these facts, any one is liable to 
be poisoned by food that appears to be all right when it is eaten. 
Some hours later vomiting, severe pain in the stomach and bowels, 
faintness and general distress show that something is wrong. If 
there is nausea and vomiting give warm water plentifully, with or 



314 TAINTED HEAT AND OTHER ANIMAL POISONS. 

without mustard, salt or an emetic, to produce copious vomiting. 
Also inject into the bowels a pint or more of warm water, contain- 
ing two table- spoonfuls of common salt. As soon as the vomiting 
subsides give a cathartic, to remove whatever portions of the food 
may remain. The after-treatment will be the same as for other 
diseases with similar symptoms. As a tonic to restore the strength 
Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic will prove very 
acceptable, as it not only strengthens the system, but antidotes 
animal poisons. 
Leeches applied within the mouth have been known to crawl down 
the throat; also, water containing them has been drunk in the 
dark. Immediately swallow a quantity of dry salt; then use 
warm water to induce vomiting. 

Spanish Flies, or "Blister i^Zi'e.s," have been swallowed by accident 
or with suicidal intent. Give an emetic immediately; wash out the 
stomach; give a cathartic, also powdered charcoal and camphor 
water. After the poison is removed from the stomach, give slip- 
pery elm in camphor water — tea-spoonful doses every half hour or 
hour, according to the severity of the symptoms. 

Cocaine being a new remedy, must produce its quota of deaths before 
the public will learn that every drug which is powerful in allaying 
pain is dangerous; it is a "two-edged knife, which cuts both ways." 
This drug ought never to be used except by a physician's prescrip- 
tion and under his oversight. This warning, however, will be 
unheeded ; consequently, instances of poisoning will arise that must 
be promptly attended to. An antidote is not at present known. 
Stimulants must be given immediately. Five to ten drops of aqua 
ammonia in half a glass of water, or, better still, half a tea-spoonful 
aromatic spirits of ammonia in two table-spoonfuls of water may 
be given every fifteen minutes, till the patient begins to rally. If 
the breath fails, try artificial respiration. 

To Wash Out the Stomach.— In a great emergency, when it 
is necessary to send some distance for a doctor, the stomach may be 
washed out before his arrival, in this way : remembering how a siphon 
acts, the same principle may be applied in emptying the stomach. 
Take the long rubber tube from off a fountain syringe; remove the 
hard metal or rubber pipe, push one end of the soft rubber tube 
down the throat into the stomach; let the other end project from the 



OBSCURE SOURCES OF POISONING. 315 

mouth four or five inches. Raise this up — slip a small funnel in it; if 
there be none in the house, one can be hastily made from pasteboard 
that will answer the purpose. Pour cool water through it till the 
stomach and tube are full; pinch the tube tightly together just below 
the funnel, while still full of water; bend it down over a basin, let 
the water flow ; following it will come the contents of the stomach. 

If the flow does not come steadily, either raise the tube, fill again, 
repeat the manoeuver, or suck the end of the tube to start the flow. 
" But this is too disagreeable," you say. Well, it is no more than doc- 
tors have to do occasionally, and if the life of one of your family is 
in danger, you should be willing to do the same. When the stomach is 
cleared out, rinse it again to wash out all the poison possible. This 
plan is to be tried only when it is impossible to produce vomiting. 

After the poison is removed, to allay the irritation and prevent 
inflammation, give slippery elm or gum arabic water for drink, and 
milk for food. Give no solid food until the stomach has recovered 
from the accident. 

Some Obscure Sources of Poisoning.— There are many 

ways in which poisons may be accidentally, yet unconsciously, taken 
into the system. When an unusual disease breaks out in a community, 
there is always some common source of infection. It may be polluted 
drinking water; it maybe air filled with germs from decaying offal: 
sometimes the chemicals used in a factory so fill the air as to produce 
sickness. Lead poisoning produces colic pains, indigestion, palsy, and 
trembling of the limbs. A number of years ago many people in a 
neighborhood became ill with dreadful colic, followed by paralysis of the 
hands. Gradually they became delirious or epileptic, and then died in 
convulsions. After a long time it was noticed that this disease attacked 
only those who drank cider. The cider mill was examined, and it was 
found that, whenever a crack appeared in the presses, it was filled with 
melted lead. The cider was carried away from the press in lead pipes, 
and, to make matters worse, a lead weight was put into the cider to keep 
it from turning sour. Both cider and press were condemned, the peo- 
ple warned, and no more cases of this disease occurred. 

Some people are poisoned by sleeping in freshly painted rooms. 
To remove the poison speedily from such a room, set tubs of water in 
them over night, and leave the windows open. Water which stands 
long in pails or reservoirs painted on the inside is unfit to drink or to 
use in cooking. Painters, plumbers and all persons who handle paint, 



316 COPPER, BRASS AND LEAD POISONING. 

solder, or white lead, should wash their hands and faces before eating, 
and if easily affected by lead rinse them in water made sour by the 
addition of a little sulphuric acid. They should also drink freely of 
water containing enough of this acid to make it as sour as lemonade, 
when there is any reason to suspect that lead is being taken into the 
lungs or stomach. Quite recently it has come out that bakers, or some 
of them, in Philadelphia and probably other places, have been using a 
chromate of lead to color cakes yellow like eggs. Several deaths have 
occurred from the use of this drug, which has been sold as egg powder. 

Copper and brass cooking utensils will poison food left standing 
in them ; they are always unsafe to use unless perfectly clean. Some of 
the gray marbled iron ware has a large porportion of arsenic in the 
gray coating. Sour fruit or pickles scalded in such utensils have been 
made unfit for food, without a suspicion that anything was wrong, until 
those partaking of them began to show signs of arsenic poisoning. 
Mouldy bread or flour is unfit for food, yet bakers frequently employ 
the latter. It produces disordered stomach. Diseased wheat, corn 
and rye have, when ground into flour, produced epidemics of disease, 
the cause of which for a long time baffled medical men. In Europe 
occurred one of the most dreadful examples of this. It was after a bad 
year, when the grain yield was scanty, food scarce, so that everything 
was eaten by the poor. At first the toes and fingers would turn black, 
then fall off; portions of flesh would do the same; the victims wasted 
away and died a horrible death. It was found out, after a great many 
had lost their lives, that the bread was made from damaged grain, con- 
taining ergot. Green wall-paper, green dresses, and artificial flowers 
sometimes hold enough arsenic to destroy the health of those who 
occupy the rooms or wear the articles. 

A dressmaker consulted a physician for paralysis of the hands. It 
was evident she was suffering from lead poisoning — but where did it 
come from ? It was finally traced to the sewing silk, which was heavily 
weighted with a lead dressing. She had the habit of moistening her 
thread in her mouth, and in this way absorbed lead. 

Poisoning due to Carelessness.— It is criminal to allow packages 
of poisonous drugs to stand around where they may be taken 
by mistake, or fall into the hands of children. If it is necessary to 
have them in the house, let them be labeled in large, plain letters, and 
let them be placed high up, out of the reach of the most active climber 
among the little folks. Never, under any circumstances, place them 



A CASE OF POISONING FROM PILLS. 317 

on the same shelf or in the same cupboard with medicines that any 
one is taking. It is no uncommon thing to read something like this 
in the newspapers: "Mrs. Blank went to her cupboard in the dark, 
selected a bottle, which she believed to contain her medicine, and dis- 
covered, on swallowing the dose, that it was corrosive sublimate, pre- 
pared for bed-bugs." Change the name of the poison, and this para- 
graph will describe a remarkably large number of accidents. Physicians 
know that many cases of accidental poisoning never get into the papers. 
To save the feelings of the careless author of the accident, the matter 
is hushed up, and some other cause of death is named to the public. 
We recollect, at this writing, of three accidents which happened within 
the short space of three months, and not one of them was ever known 
outside the immediate family circle. As they illustrate common acci- 
dents, and point a moral in each instance, we give them in full, only 
suppressing such data as would serve to identify the cases. 

Case 1. — Mrs. A. had a bright, mischievous little daughter, a year 
and a half old. Mrs. A. herself being in poor health, was given some 
strychnine pills, of which, one, three times daily, was a dose. She 
kept them, for convenience, in her sewing-machine drawer, along with 
several other kinds of medicine in pill form. While occupied in pre- 
paring supper, the little one climbed upon a chair, pulled out the 
drawer, and proceeded to play with the pills. After a time her mother 
was attracted by the child, crying, "Natty, natty!" She ran in and 
found her spitting out pills; mistaking the sugar-coating for candy, 
the child had chewed them, and found them not to her taste. The 
mother, finding the boxes open and all spilled together, hastily gath- 
ered them up, took the child away, washed out her mouth, and, con- 
cluding that none had been swallowed, went on with her supper. It 
should be added that the mother did not know what the pills con- 
tained, and, consequently, did not suspect that they were poisonous. 
In a short time the child was seized with a convulsion; a doctor was 
hastily summoned, and gave an emetic, which brought up a mass of 
pills, some partially dissolved, and some still whole as when swallowed. 
It was, however, too late; the poison had done its work, and death fol- 
lowed a short period of agonizing suffering. 

Case 2. — Mrs. L., when her second child was a fortnight old, was 
brought down stairs to the sitting-room in the morning; being still 
weak, the noise of the family worried her, and made her very nervous. 
The little daughter, three years of age, had been suffering from a 



318 



A DRUGGIST'S CARELESSNESS CAUSED DEATH. 



severe cough for several weeks, for which she was taking medicine. 
Just at dusk the mother went to the table on which the medicine bot- 
tles were kept, and, selecting the bottle which had formerly contained a 
cough syrup, poured out the dose. The child refused to take it, and 
the mother, impatiently seizing her, forced it down her throat; as she 
did so, she recognized strong fumes of carbolic acid, and knew there was 
a mistake. She uttered one scream, and fainted. A doctor was brought 
in, but, in the confusion, some precious moments were wasted before 
the accident to the child was discovered, and it was then too late to 
save her. The mother very nearly lost her reason, and it was many 
months before she was fully restored. How the carbolic acid came to 
be where it was found, was never satisfactorily explained. Some- 
body's carelessness was undoubtedly responsible for the accident. 

Case 3. — A lady suffering from a cancer, which was not sufficiently 
advanced to threaten immediate danger, was using two prescriptions, 
one internally and the other externally, to cleanse the tumor and 
hinder its growth. Needing to have both bottles replenished, they 
were sent to the druggist together. He had been drinking, and his 
brain, confused by liqour, was incapable of remembering clearly; con- 
sequently, he misplaced the labels. The patient took internally one 
dose of the preparation designed for external use — and died! It is 
extremely unsafe to patronize drug stores where the prescription clerk 
is intemperate. No amount of knowledge or skill can withstand the 
demoralizing effect of liquor. If you have a prejudice against being 
served with oxalic acid when you ask for epsom salts, or morphine 
when you want quinine, patronize neither druggists nor physicians 
who drink intoxicating liquors. In some states the law imposes a 
heavy penalty upon physicians who prescribe for a patient while they 
are intoxicated. It ought to be the rule everywhere. Not even the 
most strenuous advocate of perfect freedom in the matter of using 
liquor can reasonably object to this. 



APPENDIX. 



PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF DISEASE. 

The Illinois State Board of Health have acquired a national repu- 
tation for efficiency in controlling epidemics of disease. They have 
issued a series of " Preventable Disease Circulars" for the management 
of Small-pox, Diphtheria, and Scarlet Fever, which ought to be familiar 
to every family; — therefore, we quote them in full: 

THE SICK-ROOM. 

The room selected for the sick should be large, easily ventilated, 
and as far from the living and sleeping-rooms of other members of the 
family as it is practicable to have it. All ornaments, carpets, drapery, 
and articles not absolutely needed in the room should be removed. A 
free circulation of air from without should be admitted both by night 
and day — there is no better disinfectant than pure air. Place the bed 
as near as possible in the middle of the room; but care should, of 
course, be taken to keep the patient out of draughts. 

If the room connects with others which must be occupied, lock all 
but one door for entrance and exit, and fasten to the door frames — top, 
bottom and sides — sheets of cheap cotton cloth, kept wet with thymol 
water, or chloride of zinc solution — two drachms chloride zinc to a half 
gallon of water. Over the door to be used, the sheet must not be tacked 
at the bottom nor along the full length of the lock-side of the frame, 
but about five feet may be left free to be pushed aside; this sheet, 
however, must be long enough to allow ten or twelve inches to lie in 
folds on the floor, and must also be kept wet with the disinfectant. 

PRECAUTIONS IN THE SICK-ROOM. 

All discharges from the nose and mouth of the patient should be 
received on rags, and immediately burned. Night- vessels should be 

319 



320 METHOD OF CONTROLLING CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 

kept supplied with a quart or so of the Copperas Disinfectant, into 
which all discharges should be received. All spoons, dishes, etc., used 
or taken from the sick-room should be put in boiling water at once. 

A pail or tub of the Zinc Disinfectant should be kept in the sick- 
room; and into this all clothing, blankets, sheets, towels, etc., used 
about the patient or in the room should be dropped immediately after 
use, and before being removed from the room. They should then be 
well boiled as soon as practicable. 

ATTENDANTS. 

No more than two persons — one of them a skillful, professional 
nurse, if possible — should be employed in the sick-room, and their 
intercourse with other members of the family should be as much 
restricted as possible. 

In the event that it becomes necessary for an attendant to go away 
from the house, a complete change of clothing should be made, using 
such as has not been exposed to infection; the hands, face and hair 
should be washed in thymol water, or chloride of zinc solution. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

No inmate of the house, during the continuance of the disease, 
should venture into any public conveyance, or assemblage, or crowded 
building, such as a church or school; nor after its termination, until 
permission is given by the health authorities. 

Letters must not be sent from the patient, and all mail matter from 
the house should first be subjected to dry heat of 250-260 deg. F. 

Domestic animals, dogs, cats, etc., should not be allowed to enter 
the room of the patient — or, better still, should be excluded from the 
house. 

During the entire illness the privy should be thoroughly disinfected 
with the Copperas Disinfectant — three to five gallons of which should 
be thrown into the vault eveiy three or four days. Water closets should 
be disinfected by pouring a quart or so of this disinfectant into the 
receiver after each use. 



PROTECTION AGAINST INFECTION. 321 

CAHE AFTER RECOVERY. 

There is danger of communicating these diseases directly, from 
one recovering from them, for at least forty days from the time the 
first symptoms appeared. In any case a person should not be per- 
mitted to associate with others, nor to attend school, church or any 
public assembly until all signs of disease have disappeared, and the 
patient is thoroughly disinfected. The body and the hair should be 
thoroughly washed before the patient is allowed to leave the house. 
This bathing should be under the direction of the family physician, at 
such times and in such manner as he thinks prudent. The addition of 
a gill of thymol water to each gallon of the bath is recommended. 

No person after recovering should appear in public wearing the 
same clothing worn while sick or recovering from contagious disorders 
until such clothing has been thoroughly disinfected — and this without 
regard to the time which has elapsed since recovery. The garments 
worn at the time of being taken ill should be cared for at once, lest 
others contract the disease through handling them. 

DUTIES OP HEALTH OFFICER. 

Immediately upon receipt of notice of the existence of a case of 
contagious disease, the health officer should visit the locality, and secure 
proper compliance with the precautions above set forth. He should see 
that the prompt placards are duly posted; should notify the schools; 
take charge of funerals of those dying of this disease; superintend the 
disinfection of rooms, clothing and premises; and, finally, give official 
certificate of recovery, and of freedom from liability to communicate 
the disease to others. Until these latter are issued, a rigid system of 
isolation or quarantine should be maintained with regard to an infected 
house and its contents — persons and things. 

Where there is no health officer, the attending physician should 
see that these precautions are carried out. 

DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. 

In the event of death, the clothing in which the body is attired 
should be sprinkled with thymol water, the body wrapped in a disin- 



322 



PURIFYING THE SICK-ROOM. 



fectant cere-cloth (a sheet thoroughly soaked in the Zinc Disinfectant, 
double strength), and placed in an air-tight coffin, which is to remain 
in the sick-room until removed for burial. No public funeral should 
be allowed, either at the house or church, and no more persons should 
be permitted to go to the cemetery than are necessary to inter the 
corpse. 

The health authorities should take charge of burials, and superin- 
tend the preparation of the bodies; or, in the absence of such authori- 
ties, the attending physician should direct the undertaker as to these 
matters. 

DISINFECTION. 

After recovery or- death, all articles worn by, or that have come 
in contact with the patient, together with the room and all its contents, 
should be thoroughly disinfected by burning sulphur. To do this 
have all windows, fire-places, flues, key-holes, doors, and other open- 
ings securely closed by strips or sheets of paper pasted over them. 
Then place on the hearth or stove, or on bricks set in a wash-tub 
containing an inch or so of water, an iron vessel of live coals, upon 
which throw three or four pounds of sulphur. All articles in the room 
and others of every description that have been exposed to infection, 
which can not be washed or subjected to dry heat, and are yet too 
valuable to be burned, must be spread out on chairs or racks; mat- 
tresses or spring -beds set up so as to have both surfaces exposed; 
window- shades and curtains laid out at full length, and every effort 
made to secure thorough exposure to the sulphur fumes. The room 
should then be kept tightly closed for twenty-four hours. After this 
fumigation — which it will do no harm to repeat — the floor and wood- 
work should be washed with soap and hot water, the walls and ceil- 
ing whitewashed, or, if papered, the paper should be removed. The 
articles which have been subjected to fumigation should be exposed for 
several days to sunshine and fresh air. If the carpet has unavoidably 
been allowed to remain on the floor during the illness, it should not 
be removed until after the fumigation, but must then be taken up, 
beaten and shaken in the open air, and allowed to remain out of doors 






DISINFECTION OF CLOTHING AND BEDDING. 323 

for a week or more. If not too valuable, it should be destroyed; but, 
whenever practicable, it should be removed from the room at the 
beginning of the illness. 

After the above treatment has been thoroughly enforced, the doors 
and windows of the room should be kept open as much as possible for 
a week or two. Where houses are isolated, articles may be exposed 
out of doors. The entire contents of the house should be subjected to 
the greatest care; and, when there is any doubt as to the safety of an 
article, it should be destroyed. All this work should be done — both the 
disinfection and the destruction of property — under the direct super- 
vision of the local authorities or attending physician. 

Such articles as clothing, bedding, etc., as can be washed, should 
first be treated by dipping in the zinc disinfectant; they should then 
be immediately and thoroughly boiled. 

The ticking of beds and pillows used by the patient should be 
treated in the same manner; and the contents, if hair or feathers, should 
be thoroughly baked in an oven. If this can not be done, they should 
be destroyed by fire — as should, in any event, all straw, husk, moss or 
"excelsior" filling. The clothing of nurses should be thoroughly 
fumigated and cleaned before it is taken from the house — or, better 
still, burned, if feasible. 

The following list is referred to in the preceding pages, and 
includes the 

BEST DISINFECTANTS. 

Sunlight, fresh air, soap and water, thorough cleanliness — for 
general use. 

For special purposes, the following are the most efficient, the sim- 
plest and the cheapest: 

COPPERAS DISINFECTANT. 

Sulphate of iron (copperas) one and one-half pounds. 

Water one gallon. 

A convenient way to prepare this is to suspend a basket containing 
about sixty pounds of copperas in a barrel of water. The solution 
should be frequently and liberally used in cellars, privies, water clos- 
ets, gutters, sewers, cess-pools, yards, stables, etc. 



324 STANDARD DISINFECTANTS. 

SULPHUR DISINFECTANT. 

Roll sulphur (brimstone) two pounds. 

To a room ten feet square, and in the same proportion for larger 
rooms. 

ZINC DISINFECTANT. 

Sulphate of zinc (white vitriol) one and one-half pounds. 

Common salt three-quarters of a pound. 

Water six gallons. 

THYMOL WATER. 

Made by adding one table-spoonful of Spirits of Thymol to half 
a gallon of water. Spirits of Thymol is composed of- 

Thymol one ounce. 

Alcohol 85 per cent three ounces. 

May be used for all the disinfectant purposes of carbolic acid; it 
is quite as efficient in the strength here given, and has an agreeable 
odor. Where thymol is not available, chloride of zinc solution may be 
used — half an ounce of chloride of zinc to one gallon of water. 

STANDARD SOLUTION OF CARBOLIC ACID. 

The solutions of carbolic acid sold by druggists vary in strength 
so greatly that it is almost impossible to prescribe this remedy with 
accuracy, without seeing the solution to be employed. This difficulty 
may be overcome, by preparing the acid in the strength needed, di- 
rectly from the crystals. Procure from your druggist one ounce of 
solid refined carbolic acid; melt it by setting the bottle in warm water, 
and pour the melted acid into a clean pint bottle. Fill it up nearly to 
the top with cold soft water, shake for several minutes to thoroughly 
mix the contents, and let it stand half an hour to settle, then pour off 
the water gently, taking care that no globules of acid pass out with it. 
These directions, carefully followed, will give a clear fluid with no 
sediment or collection of acid in the bottom of the bottle, which is a 
five per cent, solution of carbolic acid. This is a standard solution, 
because always of the same strength, and from it can be quickly pre- 
pared the lotions for ordinary use. It must be preserved in a colored 






DISINFECTANT SOLUTIONS AND OINTMENTS. 325 

bottle, closely corked. In case such a bottle can not be found, paste 
brown paper around it to exclude the light. 

CARBOLIC ACID SOLUTION FOR UNHEALTHY WOUNDS. 

A very strong solution, suitable only for cancers and offensive 
ulcers and unhealthy wounds, is made by diluting the standard solu-. 
tion one half with soft water; this contains two and a half per cent. 
of carbolic acid. 

CARBOLIC ACID SOLUTION FOR INTERNAL USE. 

Measure out a suitable quantity of the standard solution, and 
dilute with water in the proportion of one table-spoonful of the stand- 
ard solution to three table- spoonfuls of water. For many purposes it 
is better to substitute one table-spoonful of winter green essence for 
one table- spoonful of water. 

Dose, one-half to one tea-spoonful, in a table-spoonful of water, 
for dyspepsia, sore throat, malaria, etc. 

Other Uses. — A tea-spoonful in a glass of water is excellent for 
cleansing the teeth. A table-spoonful or two, in a pint of water will 
disinfect the hands and remove the odors, unless they are soiled by 
discharges from the patient, when the undiluted solution will not be 
too strong to apply directly to them. As a preventive of disease when 
exposed to contagion, mix half a tea-spoonful, with half a glass of 
water, and take for a dose twice a day. A table-spoonful or two added 
to the bath removes the disagreeable odor of fever patients, and lessens 
that arising from retained excretions. 

CARBOLIZED OINTMENT. 

Mix ten grains of carbolic acid with one ounce of purified mut- 
ton suet. 

PURIFIED MUTTON SUET. 

Take clean mutton fat, trim off the shreds and skin, chop into 
fine pieces, and cover it with clean soft cold water; let it come slowly to 
a boil; remove from the fire and let it cool; skim off the fat, cover 
again with cold soft water; let it boil, cool, skim; then return it to the 
fire in a clean basin, and heat until all the water is dried out, taking 



326 VALUE OF FOMENTATIONS. 

care not to let it scorch. This is useful in making many kinds of 

ointment. 

FOMENTATIONS. 

The application of cloths freshly wrung out of water, to a limited 
portion of the body, constitutes a fomentation. The most ordinary 
place treated by this process is the front of the body, below the 
breast-bone. This space covers the stomach, the colon, the liver, the 
spleen and the smaller intestines, and the bladder; but, more im- 
portant than all, the impression made by a hot or cold application is 
conveyed directly to that large group of nerve roots, which we have 
before referred to as the " abdominal brain, " shown in Fig. 10, and 
indirectly through them influences nearly every part of the body. 
Fomentations are remarkably efficient in giving sleep to the nervous, 
where opiates and medicines of all kinds fail; they will stimulate the 
action of the kidneys and bowels; they have been known to arrest the 
most violent bilious and nervous headaches; they have stopped vomit- 
ing and nausea and cured flatulency; they sometimes quiet neuralgia, 
toothache and paroxysms of asthma. It would be an advantage to 
every family if water, both hot and cold, were more extensively em- 
ployed in the minor ailments of every-day life. Unfortunately, the 
extravagant claims of its first advocates have made it unpopular; but 
no one at all familiar with its action can have a doubt that water, used 
sensibly, is a wonderful agent in the removal of disease. The temper- 
ature of the fomentation is of great importance. All difficulties of the 
intestinal canal beginning with catarrhal fever or an ordinary cold 
will be relieved by very hot fomentations ; where the difficulty has a 
nervous origin, as is the case where it follows upon mental anxiety, 
fright, anger, loss of rest, overwork, etc., warm fomentations are to be 
preferred. When a hot fomentation produces headache, restlessness, 
or seems to do harm rather than good, the temperature of the water 
was too high. Great heat stimulates, moderate .heat relaxes ; if this 
be borne in mind, and you know whether you wish to produce the one 
effect or the other in a given case, you will find no difficulty in select- 
ing the suitable temperature for the fomentation. This should be 



METHOD OF GIVING FOMENTATION AND WET PACK. 327 

measured by a thermometer, the hand can not be relied upon as a 
guide. 

Cautions Regarding the Application of a Fomentation. — The pa- 
tient should lie down, and ought to sleep after this treatment; extra care 
must be used afterward to prevent taking cold. A fomentation ought 
never to be applied within at least two and a half hours after eating, as 
it will interfere with digestion if given sooner. They appear at first 
to weaken the patient, because they remove excitement (which has given 
a false appearance of strength, and which, unrelieved, will rapidly ex- 
haust him), and throw him upon his actual resources of strength, which 
are apt to be less than he supposed. They improve all the nutritive 
processes, and therefore strengthen in the only way that can prove 
permanent. 

Method of Giving a Fomentation. — Fold a piece of flannel to make 
three or four thicknesses, and large enough to cover the whole abdo- 
men; place it in a dry basin, and pour enough boiling water over it to 
saturate it. Wrap the flannel in a dry towel, and twist the latter until 
the water is nearly all pressed oat of the flannel, and it remains only 
damp ; lay this, as hot as it can be borne, upon the dry skin and cover 
with dry flannel; cover the patient with the ordinary bed clothing. In 
five to ten minutes prepare another hot flannel pad in the same way as 
at first, and when ready remove the one on the patient and apply the 
last. As soon as relief follows, place a dry hot flannel over the abdo- 
men, cover the patient carefully, and keep him quiet until he sleeps. 

WET PACKING. 

This is understood to mean the application of a sheet freshly wrung 
out of water to the whole body. Most people regard it as an ordeal 
more to be dreaded than the disease it is expected to cure — yet undoubt- 
edly it is capable of doing great good in many cases of illness. Weakly 
persons ought never to begin treatment too energetically. Partial 
packing is preferable for them at first. It may be begun in this way: 
Wring a towel out of water raised to a temperature of 80° to 90° (you 
will remember the heat of the human body is naturally 98 f°), and 



328 APPLICATION OF THE WET PACK. 

place it over the front of the body ; cover with dry towels or a folded 
sheet. If they are able to warm this without producing a chill, the 
next day apply two towels — one to the front, the other to the back — and 
gradully lead the patient on until a wet sheet, which envelops the entire 
body, can be borne without disagreeable sensations following. Later 
cooler water may be used, but the temperature ought to be lowered very 
gradually where the patient is feeble and bloodless. It is better to 
pack the body only, in those who have poor circulation through the 
extremities, until they have become accustomed to the treatment, and 
are known to be benefited by it. The wet pack is an excellent remedy 
in bilious, intermittent and continued fevers; also, when there is inac- 
tivity of any of the important excretory organs, and to remove blood 
poisons from the system. Those subject to asthma, as well as those 
liable to attacks of palpitation of the heart, ought to have a dry towel 
placed over the heart and lungs before being wrapped in a wet sheet. 
The Time to Remain in the Wet Pack. — This depends upon the 
length of time it requires to become warm in it. If the patient does 
not feel thoroughly warm for forty minutes or more, it is advisible to 
leave him in it from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half ; but 
if he becomes warm in ten to fifteen minutes, he should not remain in 
the pack longer than one hour. Headache, f aintness, or dizziness show 
that the pack has been too greatly prolonged. 

POULTICES. 

These applications are made for the purpose of softening the skin, 
for stimulating it, to retain heat, and to relieve pain. Bread and 
milk make a good poultice, but it should not be kept on too long; it 
soon becomes sour, and is then irritating, because filled with bacteria, 
and, like fermenting milk, is liable to contain the deadly poison known 
as "ptomaine." 

FLAXSEED POULTICE. 

This is made by pouring boiling water into a clean basin, and 
stirring in linseed meal until thick enough. Spread it not less than 
one inch thick on soft, clean cotton, and grease its upper surface with 
unsalted lard to keep it from sticking. 



POULTICES AND COOLING APPLICATIONS. 329 

INDIAN MEAL POULTICE. 

An Indian meal poultice may be made in the same way. It 
retains heat better when lightly baked like a pancake, and should be an 
inch and a half thick. 

BRAN POULTICE. 

Make a flannel bag large enough to cover the surface to be poul- 
ticed; fill it conveniently full, and sew it up. Place it in a steamer, 
and let one side become as hot as can be borne, and apply that side of it 
to the diseased spot. 

HOP POULTICE. 

This is made similarly to the preceding, and it is thought to ease 
pain. 

POPPY POULTICE. 

Pour a pint of boiling water over a handful of dry poppy pods, and 
thicken with linseed meal, powdered slippery elm bark, or Indian meal. 
Spread it on clean linen, and apply it hot for the relief of neuralgia, 
toothache and rheumatic pains. 

CHARCOAL POULTICE. 

Take of wood charcoal half an ounce; bread crumbs, two ounces; 
linseed meal, one ounce and a half; boiling water, ten fluid ounces. 
Soak the bread in the water until soft ; add the linseed meal gradually, 
and stir the ingredients all together to make it a soft mass. 

ICE POULTICE. 

Spread a layer of dry linseed meal on a suitable cloth an inch 
thick; on this, at intervals of an inch, lay pieces of ice the size of a 
marble; cover with another cloth, folding the edges over to keep the 
melted ice from running out. Sometimes used to diminish the heat in 
intense inflammation. 

MUSTARD PASTE. 

Mix mustard with cold water to the consistency of putty; spread 
it about ^ inch thick on brown paper or cloth; cover with a piece 
of tarleton or net, and apply until the skin is reddened. 

COOLING APPLICATIONS. 

It is sometimes necessary to apply cooling lotions to reduce the 
great heat present in severe inflammation. The ice poultice describee} 



330 AVERAGE DOSE OF MEDICINE. 

above is one mode of applying cold. Ice may be inclosed in a bladder, 
in a rubber bag, or be wrapped in a gossamer cloak to keep the bedding 
dry. Sometimes ice can not be had, then an evaporating lotion will be 
beneficial. A single piece of linen may be dipped in water or other 
liquid, and laid on without other covering; as the water evaporates, 
sprinkle the linen to keep it moist. Irrigation is sometimes needed for 
broken or amputated limbs. A pail of water may be hung above the 
bed with one end of a towel fastened to it, and the other arranged to 
allow the water to drip upon the part to be cooled. A rubber cloth 
placed beneath the limb receives the water, and conveys it into a 
receptacle at the bedside. A fountain syringe can also be arranged 
for the same purpose. 

DOSES OF MEDICINE. 

SIZE OF DOSE MUST BE ADAPTED TO AGE OF PATIENT. 

The majority of medicines have the dose named for persons 21 
years of age, and from this the quantity for the young and the aged 
is to be estimated. The proportion is, viz: 

Children 2 years old requires \ of an average dose. 



Adults 



The last named varies with the strength of the patient; vigorous 
old people may take nearly a full dose, while those who are very feeble 
need even less than we have named. 

TO DISGUISE THE TASTE OF DISAGREEABLE MEDICINES. 

Chew some strong, aromatic substance, or something that makes 
a powerful impression on the sense of taste ; then swallow the medicine 
immediately. Orange or lemon peel in this way disguises the taste of 
castor oil. Liquorice diminishes the taste of bitters. 

OLD BOTTLES. 

Every housekeeper should see that all bottles of medicine pre- 
scribed for a particular illness are emptied when no longer needed. 



4 « « 


T 


8 " " 


" I " 


12 " " 


a l u 

2 


21 " " 


' full dose 


70 or over ' 


l 1 u 
2 



CONVENIENT MEASUKEMENT SYKUPS. 331 

Medicine soon deteriorates; therefore, it is not advisable to keep it for 
another time — besides, poisonous solutions are liable to be left where 
they will lead to serious mishaps. All bottles should be cleaned before 
being set away; they clean easier then, and are ready when wanted. 
To clean them, place them in a kettle, sprinkle over them a handful of 
wood-ashes, or add a small quantity of ley, or sal soda and cover with 
cold water; set them over a fire; let them boil, and then remove, and 
when cool enough rinse and drain. Substances which adhere may be 
scoured off by coarse sand and strong soap suds; fill the bottle about 
half full, and shake it hard; sometimes shot will do better than sand. 

CONVENIENT MEASUREMENT. 

It is often necessary to measure medicines with spoons, in the 
absence of graduates or measuring glasses. The following estimates 
are not accurate, but are sufficiently near to answer, except for poison- 
ous drugs: 

A tea- cup contains about four fluid ounces, or a gill. 

A wine-glass " two fluid ounces. 

A table-spoon " " half a fluid ounce. 

A small tea-spoon " " a fluidrachm. 

A large tea-spoon " " two flui drachms. 

ROOT AND HERB TEAS. 

Nearly all roots and herbs are injured by long boiling. As a rule, 
one ounce of the herb or bruised root to one pint of water makes the 
tea of suitable strength. Place the former in an earthen or stone 
jar; pour over it the water heated to the boiling point; cover closely 
until cool, and then strain. 

SYRUPS. 

Many families are accustomed to prepare some favorite remedy 
in the form of a syrup. This will keep well when made according to 
these directions : Cover the barks or roots with water, and let them 
stand over night — or, in case they are very dry, a day or two will not be 
too long. Drain off the fluid and add granulated sugar in the propor- 
tion of six pounds to the gallon. Let it boil until the sugar is com- 



332 RHUBARB SYRUP LIME WATER. 

pletely dissolved, which will be within five minutes after boiling be- 
gins; remove from the fire, and strain through clean canton flannel pre- 
viously wrung out of boiling water; scald out the bottles, and fill 
while hot; use clean corks, and keep the bottles closed. 

COMPOUND SYRUP OF RHUBARB. 

This valuable syrup is a household remedy that any one may pre- 
pare. It is excellent for diarrhoea, sour stomach, loss of appetite, 
catarrh of stomach, and is especially adapted to such cases as Happy 
Home Blood Purifier and Health Tonic fails to benefit. 

Take of the best rhubarb, finely powdered, a half ounce; carbonate 
potash, a half ounce ; golden seal and cinnamon, crushed or powdered, 
one-fourth ounce; granulated sugar, one and a half pounds; water, one 
quart; oil peppermint, five drops. 

Place the rhubarb, potash, golden seal and cinnamon in a stone 
jar; pour over them one quart of boiling soft water. Let them stand 
twenty -four hours, then drain off the liquid; the best way to do this is 
to pour the mixture into a pointed bag and hang it over a clean earthen 
jar until it ceases to drip; then pour over the dregs a coffee-cupful of 
boiling water, let it drain off, mix with the first portion, and set it over 
the fire; add the sugar, and as soon as melted it is done. Rub the 
peppermint into a tea-spoonful of sugar until thoroughly mixed and 
stir into the syrup, after removing it from the fire. Add water, if nec- 
essary, to make the syrup measure one quart. Have ready some clean 
bottles, scald them and fill with the hot syrup; cork and set away until 
needed. 

LIME WATER. 

Lime water is very easily made, and ought to be kept in every 
family. It is one of the best remedies to allay. nausea and vomiting; 
for this purpose it may be mixed with milk. Mixed with linseed oil or 
sweet oil, it makes an excellent remedy for burns ; heated and sprayed 
into the throat, it removes false membranes; the fumes of slacking lime 
are better for this purpose. 

To Prepare Lime Water. — Select a pound or more of unslaked lime; 









HOT AND COLD BEVERAGES FOR INVALIDS. 333 

place it in a stone jar, and pour over it a gallon of clean, cold water. 
When the lime is slacked, stir the mixture, and add water enough to 
make it of the consistency of thin cream; bottle, cork and set away. 
The lime will settle, leaving a clear fluid on top, which is to be drawn 
off as needed; do not shake it up before pouring out a dose. 

INVALID DRINKS. 

Pure cold water affords, in the majority of cases, the most desir- 
able drink for invalids. Where there is reason to suspect that the 
water may be contaminated, it should be boiled before using. It is 
claimed that the Chinese, with their pestilent native habits, would have 
been swept out of existence long ago, were it not the universal custom 
to drink tea instead of the unboiled water of their polluted rivers and 
springs. Occasionally, a patient craves some other drink than simple 
water; therefore, we give a few recines for other refreshing beverages. 

TEA FOR INVALIDS. 

Select tea of good quality, and put a tea- spoonful, if but a single 
cup is wanted, in a dry, clean tea-pot; let it stand on the back of the 
stove or in the oven until the tea-pot is hot, but do not scorch the tea ; 
then pour on a little more than a cup of boiling water; let it stand five 
minutes, and it is ready. 

ICED TEA. 

Prepare in the same way, and within ten minutes after the boiling 
water is poured on strain it off the leaves, and set it aside to cool. In 
using it fill a tumbler half full of broken ice; fill up with tea, and 
sweeten to taste. 



dis< 
gro: 



This is a refreshing beverage for invalids, when the nature of their 
isease does not forbid its use. Coffee should never be purchased 
und, as it loses it flavor very rapidly. Roasted coffee in the berry is 
good when fresh, but it rapidly deteriorates; therefore, those who wish 
to secure the delicate aroma in its perfection will do well to roast it at 
home, and in small quantity at a time. It may be heated in a frying- 
pan in the oven, or on the stove; it ought to be roasted quickly, and 



334 TO PREPARE COFFEE AND CHOCOLATE. 

when of a bright brown it is done; stir constantly, and pick out any 
grains that are of a dull black. A bit of melted butter beaten with 
white of egg, stirred in the moment it is taken from the fire, gives a 
glazed coating to the berries and tends to preserve the flavor. 

To Make a Cup of Coffee, prepare a small flannel or cotton bag 
of loose material: place in it one heaping table- spoonful of very finely 
ground coffee. Let the coffee-pot be warm; throw the bag into it, and 
pour on two cups of boiling water. Set it where it will boil for ten 
minutes; remove from the fire; pour in a table -spoonful of cold water 
to settle, and it is ready. Let the coffee-cup be warm, also the milk or 
cream; put the sugar and cream in the cup and pour on the hot coffee, 
filling it a little more than two-thirds full. Do not fill any cup or glass 
full enough to slop over as it is carried; it gives it an untidy look, 
offensive to many persons. 

EGG MULLED IN TEA OR COFFEE. 

Beat the yolk of an egg very well in a cup; stir in a little milk or 
cream; then pour on it, stirring it all the time, hot coffee or tea to fill 
the cup. If poured on too hastily, the egg will curdle, and it must be 
thrown away. This is excellent for a morning stimulant for those who 
can not eat any breakfast. 

PLAIN CHOCOLATE. 

Scrape one ounce (one of the small squares ) of chocolate, fine ; add 
to this two table -spoonfuls of sugar, and put into a small sauce-pan with 
one table -spoonful of hot water; stir over a hot fire for a minute or two, 
until it is perfectly smooth and glossy; then stir it all into a quart of 
boiling milk, or half milk and half water; mix thoroughly and serve 
immediately. More or less chocolate, milk and sugar may be used, to 
suit the taste. Made in this way, it is free -from oily particles; when 
allowed to boil after the chocolate is added to the milk, it becomes oily 
and loses its fine flavor. 

EGG CHOCOLATE. 

Dissolve one cake of chocolate in one cup of boiling water; beat 
the yolk of an egg to a foam in a bowl, and pour the chocolate slowly 



SUBSTITUTES TOE TEA AND COFFEE. 335' 

over it, stirring constantly all the time; add cream or hot milk and 
sugar to suit the taste. 

FROTHED CHOCOLATE. 

One cup of boiling water; 3 pints of* fresh milk; 3 table -spoonfuls of 
Baker's chocolate, grated; the whites of 5 eggs, beaten light; two table- 
spoonfuls of sugar, powdered fine for the froth. Heat the milk to the 
boiling point; mix up the chocolate with the boiling water, and stir into 
the hot milk; let it simmer gently for ten minutes, and stir frequently; 
boil up once briskly; take from the fire, sweeten to taste and stir in the 
beaten whites of two eggs, unsweetened. Pour into a heated pitcher, 
from which it is to be served; have ready the remaining whites whipped 
up with the powdered sugar, and place a spoonful on each cup as it is> 
served. 

BREAKFAST COCOA. 

Into a breakfast cup put a tea-spoonful of powdered cocoa; add a 
table-spoonful of boiling water and mix evenly; then add equal parts 
of boiling water and boiled milk, and sugar to taste. 

COCOA SHELLS. 

Take two ounces of cocoa shells; pour over them three pints of 
boiling water ; boil for thirty to forty minutes ; let it settle, and strain } 
then add cream, or boiled milk, and sugar at pleasure. 

CORN COFFEE. 

Parch a coffee-cupful of common field corn to a light brown 
color. Pour over it one pint of boiling water; let it stand where ife 
can steep for half an hour; then pour it off, and drink it very hot. 
This is excellent for nausea. Where taken as a substitute for tea or 
coffee, it may be seasoned with sugar and cream. 

TOAST WATER. 

Toast two or three slices of light bread until perfectly browned 
without burning; cover them with boiling water, and let it stand 
fifteen minutes if wanted hot — otherwise, until cold. Strain off the 
water, at the same time pressing it out of the bread. Flavor to suit 
the taste. 



336 OAT MEAL, TAMARIND 4.ND JELLY WATER LEMONADE. 

OATMEAL "WATER. 

Stir one table-spoonful of oat meal into one pint of cold water; let 
it stand two hours in a cool place ; then drain off as wanted. 

TAMARIND WATER. 

Pour one pint of boiling water upon one ounce of tamarind pulp 
in an earthen bowl; keep it hot for half an hour; let it cool — strain and 
sweeten to taste. This is a laxative, cooling drink, suitable for fever 
patients. 

JELLY WATER. 

Take one tea- spoonful of any kind of jelly preferred; stir it in a 
glass of ice-water until dissolved; then give as much as the patient will 
drink. It is much liked by fever patients. 

LEMONADE. 

Roll the whole lemon upon a clean board, at the same time press- 
ing it hard until it is very soft. Place two table -spoonfuls of granu- 
lated sugar in a glass; cut the lemon in half, and squeeze the juice 
upon the sugar; throw away the lemon when all the juice is pressed 
out Fill the glass with cold water; stir the ingredients until the sugar 
is dissolved, and it is ready. More or less sugar may be added, and 
bits of ace if desired. Ice for invalid drinks is nicer when shaved off, 
instead of broken into bits. 

RASPBERRY LEMONADE. 

Roll a lemon until soft; slice it into a pitcher or large bowl; add 
one table- spoonful of red raspberries and two table-spoonfuls of loaf 
sugar. Grind all together, using a potato-masher, if nothing better can 
be found. Cover with one pint of water, and let it stand five minutes ; 
stir it again, and then strain through cheese-cloth. Ice and more sugar 
may be added to suit the taste. Strawberries or any other fruit may 
be substituted for raspberries. 

FLAXSEED LEMONADE. 

Put four table-spoonfuls of whole flaxseed in an earthen pitcher, 
and pour upon it one quart of boiling water; cover, and let it stand 
two or three hours; then strain, add the juice of two lemons, and 



LIQUID FOODS FOR THE SICK. 337 

sweeten. If too thick, add cold water. It is excellent for sore throat 
and hoarseness. 

PARCHED FLAXSEED. 

A tea made according to the preceding recipe, omitting the lemon 
juice and using flaxseed, parched like corn, is excellent for removing 
dropsical swellings. 

MULLEIN TEA. 

Consumptives and other suffering from a dry throat, with tickling 
sensation, which keeps up a cough, will be greatly relieved by drinking 
freely of a tea made by boiling one large mullein leaf in one quart of 
milk for half an hour. Strain, and when cold it is ready for use. 

LIQUID FOODS FOR THE SICK. 

Many forms of illness require a liquid diet for a time, and this 
will call for some ingenuity on the part of the nurse to make it accept- 
able. There are three points to be strictly attended to: 1. Soups, 
broths, etc., to be given warm must be served hot; in cold weather the 
cup or bowl ought to be filled with boiling water, until the moment it 
is needed. 2. Those which are to be taken cold should have all grease 
removed, and be set on the ice until wanted; when there is no ice, set 
the bowl in cold water. 3. Fill the dish only two-thirds full, and 
have the outside clean; serve on a tray or a plate covered with a clean 
napkin, with the spoon beside, not in, the food. Never taste it in the 
presence of the patient. Should the necessity arise for doing this, fill 
the patient's spoon from the cup and pour into another spoon, from 
which it is tasted; carry the latter spoon out of the room after using it. 

MILK. 

The majority of patients will thrive better upon a milk diet than 
on any other that can be selected. There is a right and a wrong way 
to serve so simple a food as milk. It ought to be fresh and perfectly 
sweet. Milk designed for infants and invalids (as well as for the 
family) ought to be kept in a clean place. The hands of the milker 
and the cow's teats must be clean — otherwise, the milk is tainted at the . 
start. Disease often sharpens the taste, making the odors of the stable 



66b NOURISHING LIQUID FOOD. 

perceptible when those in health can not detect them. It should be 
served in a clean glass, on a tray or plate. When the physician orders 
lime water, or any other medicine mixed with it, keep it from the 
knowledge of the patient if possible. One or two table-spoonfuls of 
lime water is enough for one glass of milk. Should magnesia be given 
stir it into the milk, and let it settle a moment; then pour off into a 
clean glass — otherwise the sediment will be noticed, revealing to the 
patient the fact that the milk is medicated. Do not give too much 
milk at a time. A large glassful is all that will be relished, and more 
may form too much curd for a weak stomach to dispose of easily. This 
quantity may be repeated every three hours. Sometimes it agrees 
better to be given very hot; raise quickly to the boiling point — do not 
boil ; pour into a hot cup, and sprinkle with pepper when it is liked. 

MILK AND EGG. 

Beat the yolk and white of a fresh egg separately; mix the yolk 
with one table- spoonful (more or less, according to taste) of granulated 
sugar in a goblet; fill up a little more than half with rich, sweet milk, 
with a spoonful of shaved ice when convenient; stir thoroughly, cover 
with the white beaten to a stiff froth, season with nutmeg or very thin 
slices of some fruit jelly and take immediately. This is nourishing for 
feeble patients. 

BUTTER-MILK. 

Iced butter-milk is sometimes relished by fever patients. It ought 
to be fresh, and not more than a day or two old. Dyspeptics can occa- 
sionally subsist on butter-milk when everything else causes distress. 
An old and highly recommended diet for consumptives, troubled with 
indigestion, is butter-milk sweetened with maple sugar. 

KUMISS. 

Select strong bottles that will hold about a quart, and fill with new 
milk two parts; cold, soft water, one part; put one-fourth of a cake of 
yeast in each bottle. Cork, and tie the cork firmly in place. Let them 
stand for twelve hours where the temperature is about 70°; then 
set them on ice or in a cool place. Be careful in removing the cork, or 



AIDS TO DIGESTION. 339 

the contents will escape with great force and be wasted. The curd 
should be in small flakes; when in a solid mass, it is unfit for use. This 
is sometimes called "champagne milk," and is more stimulating than 
milk in any other form. < 

RENNET. 

Pepsin, pancreatin, and other preparations of the digestive princi- 
ples obtained from animals may be purchased of your druggist. They 
are demanded when the digestive fluids are not perfectly prepared, in 
consequence of some of the organs concerned in their production being 
diseased. Kennet, prepared according to the following directions, is a 
good substitute for pepsin, and costs considerably less. 

To Prepare Rennet. — Clean the stomach of a calf as soon as 
killed, scouring inside and outside- with salt. When perfectly clean, 
tack upon a frame to dry in the sun for a day. Cut in small squares, 
and pack away in salt. When needed, soak one or more of the pieces 
half an hour in cold water; wash well, and put it into the milk or other 
food that is to be prepared for digestion. Tie a string to it, that it may 
foe drawn out when its work is done. 

INGLUVIN. 

The inner lining of a chicken's gizzard, washed clean, dried and 
powdered, is sometimes beneficial in dyspepsia. It is now prepared on 
a large scale, and is for sale under the name of ingluvin. The dose is 
the quantity that can be heaped upon a dime, taken immediately before 
eating, at each meal. 

PARTIALLY DIGESTED MILK. 

It is sometimes necessary to prepare milk for the stomach to lessen 
the work required of it. Insert the rennet as described above, and 
when the milk begins to thicken take it out. Do not wait for the curd 
to separate, but give immediately. 

FLOUR GRUEL FOR DIARRHCEA. 

Tie up one pound of flour in a cloth, and place in a sauce pan of 
cold water; boil four or five hours steadily. Take it out of the cloth 
and dry in a warm oven, or in the sun; grate off one table-spoonful 



340 GRUEL AND BEEF TEA. 

at a time for a coffee-cupful of milk and water (equal parts). Wet 
the grated flour with a little cold water — let the milk and water boil ; 
then mix it in, and add a little salt. In five minutes it will be ready. 
This is very valuable for children suffering from summer complaint. 

OATMEAL GRUEL. 

Sift one heaping table-spoonful of oatmeal slowly into one pint of 
boiling water, stirring it all the time. Let it boil at least two hours, 
adding hot water as needed. Strain through a sieve. This is the 
basis of foods of great value for cases of constipated habit, and for 
infants with whom milk alone disagrees. It may be prepared in 
several ways: 1. Beat a fresh egg, and pour slowly upon it while 
stirring constantly, the gruel raised to the boiling point. Season with 
salt and pepper. 2. Mix two-thirds gruel with one-third fresh cream, 
and sweeten with powdered sugar of milk. An excellent food for wast- 
ing diseases of childhood unaccompanied by diarrhoea. 3. Mix equal 
parts of this gruel and fresh milk ; sweeten with granulated sugar. 

INDIAN MEAL GRUEL. 

Place one tea- spoonful of salt, a bit of butter the size of a small hick- 
ory nut, and a pint of water in a clean basin or frying pan over the fire. 
Raise to the boiling point, and when bubbling briskly slowly sift in one 
heaping table-spoonful of yellow corn meal. Continue to stir for half 
an hour; then set it back where it will gently simmer for another half 
hour. Add boiling water to supply the loss from evaporation. Prop- 
erly made, it is smooth and free from lumps. If butter is objected to 
in the seasoning, omit it and add a table-spoonful of thin cream to a 
coffee-cup of gruel just before serving. This is very grateful to the 
stomach, and is usually well borne after severe vomiting. 

BEEF TEA. 

Select a pound of lean beef; remove all fat, gristle and bone. 
Chop it fine, put it into a stone or earthen jar; pour over it half a pint 
of cold, soft water, containing ten drops of dilute hydrochloric acid 
(to be had from your druggist), and let it stand one hour. Press out 
all the juice, and set it aside; pour over the meat another half -pint 



BEEF ESSENCE AND BROTHS. 341. 

of cold water, and set over the fire to boil. At the end of an hour strain 
it through a sieve; mix the two portions of liquid; return to the fire 
in a stone jar; bring to a boil, and serve hot with salt and pepper to 
taste — if permitted by the medical adviser. This beef tea may be 
served cold, in which case it is not heated after mixing the two por- 
tions. The fragments of meat are thrown away. This tea is an excel- 
lent nerve stimulant, but contains very little nourishment. A patient 
would starve fed on it alone. 

BEEF ESSENCE. 

Prepare the beef as for tea, but use no water. Place the chopped 
beef in a strong bottle; cork firmly, and set it in a kettle of warm 
water. Let it boil net less than six hours ; remove the contents of 
the bottle ; press out all the juice, and dry the remnants of meat in 
an oven, taking care not to burn them. When dry, pound them very 
fine, or grind them to a powder in a coffee-mill, and mix with the 
juice. This is very nourishing and very strong; the patient can take 
but a little at a time. It is to be selected when, for any reason, milk 
can not be taken. 

MUTTON BEOTH. 

Boil a piece of mutton until it will fall from the bone; drain off 
the broth; let it stand until cool; skim off the fat; salt it and heat it. 
Veal and Chicken broth may be made the same way. Boiled rice, 
barley or vermicelli may be added to it, to make a variety. A little 
ingenuity in seasoning it differently will make it more attractive to a 
patient compelled to subsist almost entirely on liquid food. 

CALVES' FEET BEOTH. 

Boil two calves' feet in two quarts of water until they are in 
shreds. Strain off the liquor; salt to taste, and set away until needed. 
To prepare for eating, take one coffee-cupful of the broth, raise it to 
the boiling point; beat one egg and stir into it two table-spoonfuls of 
sweet milk; pour over it the boiling broth, stirring rapidly to keep 
the egg from curdling. A little pepper improves it. Serve with 
toast. 



342 OYSTER STEW AND SOUP. 

OYSTER STEW WITHOUT MILK. 

To one pint of oysters, including juice, add one pint of cold 
water; stir together, drain off all the liquor, and place it in clean fry- 
ing pan or basin over the fire. Season with salt, a lump of butter the 
size of a walnut, and thicken with cracker dust or crust powder; a 
tea-spoonful moistened with water will be enough. As soon as the 
liquor boils add the oysters ; let them boil up once, and serve. This 
stew may be varied by using half the quantity of water, and by sea- 
soning with cream when butter disagrees. 

OYSTER SOUP. 

Take one pint of water, half a pint of milk, a table -spoonful of 
the best butter, two crackers rolled very fine, half a tea-spoonful of 
salt, and pepper to season. Mix all together, and bring to the boiling 
point over a quick fire; then add one pint of oysters. Remove from 
the fire as soon as it begins to boil, and serve immediately. 

MOCK OYSTER SOUP. 

Wash and clean salsify or "vegetable oysters; " slice them cross- 
wise into pieces about half an inch in length, and boil in water until 
tender. Drain off the water and mix with it half as much milk; salt, 
pepper, etc., using the same proportions as in the last recipe; when 
it boils, stir in a tea-spoonful of corn starch moistened with milk; add 
the salsify ; Jet it remain over the fire two or three minutes, or until it 
boils briskly; remove and serve. 



VAEIOUS FOOD RECIPES. 

The secret of success in providing the sick with a diet that is 
easily digested and at the same time sufficiently nourishing, lies in 
giving only one thing at a time, and in not giving the same article 
twice in succession. When more is prepared than is wanted for one 
meal, set what is left away where it will keep until next day ; if it can 
not be kept, then dispose of it in some other way; do not insist upon 
the patient eating it. This does not hold true of liquid foods. Patients 
dependent upon them are seldom in a condition to notice particularly 



VAKIOUS FOOD. KECIPES FOR INVALIDS, 343 

what they are taking; but even then it is desirable to vary its appear- 
ance as much as possible, to make it more tempting. Do not give sick 
people pickles, piquant sauces, such as Chili sauce, etc., nor highly 
seasoned food. These articles are apt to interfere with the action of 
medicines, when they do not seriously irritate the digestive organs. 

PANADA. 

Select any good crackers to fill a large coffee-cup. Oyster crackers 
will not need to be broken. Sprinkle a table -spoonful of granulated 
sugar over them, also a little salt, and cover with boiling water. Cover 
the cup, and let it stand for an hour, or until the crackers are clear and 
soft as jelly. It may be flavored with nutmeg. Currant jelly may, for 
a change, be used to flavor it. 

PEPTONIZED BEEP. 

A very nourishing food for those who are extremely weak and 
exhausted may be prepared as follows: Chop lean, fresh beef very 
fine, or scrape it with a dull knife into shreds. To one pound of such 
meat, free from fat or gristle, add half a pint of soft water, one tea- 
spoonful' of dilute hydrochloric acid, and one square of rennet. Place 
the whole in a stone or earthen jar, and keep it at about 120° for six 
hours, or until nothing but the fibers of beef remain. Strain through 
cheese-cloth, press out the juice; let it cool, and give it to the patient 
every three hours until all is taken. A little salt may be added, also 
pepper, if desired. 

MEAT PASTE. 

Take a small piece of raw, lean meat, beef, mutton or chicken. 
Shred as fine as possible, and rub through a sieve to a smooth paste. 
Mix a piece the size of a pea with cream and sugar. Give frequently, 
in cases of great exhaustion from diarrhoea or hemorrhage. It may 
be given in a sandwich, between two ver~ thin layers of bread or 
toasted cracker. 

SOFT BOILED EGGS. 

Put the eggs in a sauce-pan containing enough boiling water to 
cover them. Let it stand where the water will keep hot, but not boil, 
for ten minutes. This cooks both white and yolks, but not too hard. 



344 



TWO WAYS OF COOKING ASPARAGUS. 



In taking them out, be careful not to break them; trim off the edges 
neatly, and season with salt and butter. 

SOFT BAKED EGGS. 

Heat an earthen pie-plate hot — grease it with good butter; break 
the eggs and drop them on the hot plate, taking care not to break the 
yolk. Set them in the top of the oven, and watch them until they 
become whitened over the top ; take the plate out of the oven, and 
immediately remove the eggs to a small, warm plate or saucer, from 
which the invalid may be served. 

CHICKEN JELLY. 

Cut up a whole chicken into small pieces, and break the bones; 
put all together in a stone jar; pour one tea-cup of cold water over it; 
cover closely — boil nine hours. Strain through a sieve, salt it and let it 
cool; skim off the fat, and it is ready to be eaten. It may be placed 
between two slices of bread to make sandwiches. 

CUHDS AND CHEAM. 

Put one spoonful of prepared rennet in a quart of new milk; line 
a basin with a large piece of cheese-cloth, and pour upon this the pre- 
pared milk. As soon as the curd forms, gather up the edges of the 
cheese-cloth to make a loose bag, and hang it up to drain the curd. 
"When drained put it in a dish, which may be set in cool water or on 
the ice. Serve it with sweet cream and powdered loaf sugar. Some 
like to have it flavored with nutmeg. 

TWO WAYS OF COOKING ASPARAGUS 

1. Wash, clean and cut off all tough parts. Boil in salted water 
until tender. Prepare some thin toast; soften it with the water in 
which the asparagus is boiled; spread lightly with butter, and place the 
asparagus on the toast, which must be seasoned with butter and pepper. 
Serve hot. 

2. After cleaning and trimming, cut the bunch across at intervals 
of half an inch to divide each stalk into small pieces ; cover with cold 
water, and boil till tender; let the water nearly all boil away; then add 
enough milk to cover the asparagus, a piece of butter the size of a 



RICE POTATOES SALAD. 345 

hickory nut, and salt to suit the taste. Some prefer to thicken the 
milk a little; a level tea-spoonful of corn-starch moistened with milk 
stirred in, without lumps, will make it thick enough. 

BOILED RICE. 

Pick over a tea-cupful of rice, wash, and put it into a large cheese- 
cloth bag. Have ready a kettle of boiling water containing a heaping 
tea-spoonful of salt to each pint. Place the bag of rice in the kettle, 
and see that there is enough water to cover it. A large spoon laid in 
the bottom of the kettle keeps the bag from sticking to it. Boil briskly 
for half an hour; take out the bag, drain it and turn out the rice. 
Properly done each grain is large, soft, but distinct — not the pasty 
mass rice often becomes when improperly cooked. It may be eaten 
with cream and sugar, or with milk only. 

SARATOGA POTATOES. 

Pare large sound potatoes; slice very thin, and cover with salt 
water. Prepare a kettle of boiling lard or dripping, as for frying cakes. 
Take a handful of the sliced potatoes; dry them in a napkin, and throw 
into the boiling lard, taking care that the pieces do not stick together. 
Stir with a fork until they are of a golden brown color; skim them out, 
and lay upon a clean napkin to absorb the grease. Serve either hot or 
cold. When dry, crisp and free from grease, they are greatly relished 
by such invalids as can eat potatoes. 

DANDELION SALAD. 

Take equal parts of young dandelion tops and water cresses ; wash,, 
and add a little shredded onion, and dress with oil and vinegar, or cream 
and vinegar, with salt and pepper to the taste. To prepare the cream 
dressing add one table-spoonful of moderately strong vinegar to a tea- 
cupful of sweet cream. This is equally nice for sliced cucumbers. 

-WATER-CRESS. 

This plant affords an excellent relish to a delicate appetite. Wash 
clean, and pick off decayed leaves ; cover with ice-water until ready to 
eat; then shake free of water; pile lightly on a glass dish, and season 
with salt. 



346 BAKED APPLES FRUIT JELLIES. 

BAKED APPLES. 

Select any juicy, sour apples; wash, but do not pare them. Pull 
out the stem and cut out a circular piece from the blossom end, making 
a cavity half an inch deep and one inch in diameter. Fill this with 
granulated sugar. Set the apples in a basin, sugared end up; pour in 
just enough water to cover the bottom, and bake in a quick oven. They 
may be eaten hot or cold. Serve them separately in a sauce dish; pour 
a tea-spoonful of the juice over each, and eat with cream and sugar. 

APPLE JELLY. 

Wipe the fruit, and cut it into pieces without paring or removing 
the seeds. Put into a porcelain-lined kettle, with barely enough water 
to cover. Boil slowly, until the apples are very tender; then drain them 
through a flannel jelly-bag; do not squeeze, or the jelly will be cloudy. 
To every pint of this juice allow one pound of granulated sugar; 
return the juice to the kettle, and bring it quickly to a boil; then add 
the sugar; stir until dissolved, and boil until it will jelly. This should 
be in twenty minutes, but it sometimes requires thirty to forty 
minutes. 

To Test the Jelly. — Take out a tea-spoonful of boiling jelly; pour 
it into the bottom of a saucer, and let it cool for a minute or two; then 
scrape it one side with a spoon. If jellied, the surface will be partly 
solid. As soon as it jellies, roll the glasses in boiling water; then fill 
with the boiling liquid. Let them stand until the jelly is hard and 
cold; then put on the covers. If common tumblers without covers are 
used, paste over them two thicknesses of tissue paper ; then moisten the 
top of the paper with cold water. This stretches the paper; draw it 
tight and press the edges firmly down to the glass; as it dries it will 
become hard as parchment. Keep in a cool, dark place. 

KHUBAKB JELLY. 

Wash and wipe the stalks, and without paring, cut into pieces 
about one inch long; place in a porcelain-lined kettle, allowing one pint 
of water to every four pounds of rhubarb. Boil to a soft pulp, turn 
into a jelly bag, and hang up to drip; do not squeeze or press. To 



ICE CREAM AND CUSTAED. 347 

every pint of juice allow one pound of sugar. Boil, and finish the same 
as apple jelly. This is laxative. 

RHUBARB JAM. 

Wash the stalks, and cut into pieces about an inch long. Do not 
peel it. Weigh, and to each pound allow three-quarters of a pound of 
sugar. Put all in a porcelain-lined kettle, bring slowly to a boil ; then 
stir continually for three-quarters of an hour, when it will be done and 
ready to put into tumblers or jars, and cover with tissue paper. Excel- 
lent for those of constipated habit. 

BLACKBERRY JAM. 

Six quarts of ripe berries and three pounds of brown sugar; mash 
together, and boil slowly for two hours, stirring often to keep from 
burning. Put it into a jar; when cool, seal it up with tissue paper. It 
will keep well. Useful in diarrhoea. 

TOMATO FIGS. 

Allow to six pounds of tomatoes three pounds of granulated sugar; 
select those that are ripe, small and smooth; scald and remove the 
skins. Place a layer of the tomatoes in the bottom of a porcelain-lined 
kettle; strew them thickly with sugar, and place over a moderate fire. 
Stew very gently, until the sugar appears to have penetrated the 
tomatoes. Lift them carefully, one at a time with a spoon; spread 
them on dishes, and dry in the sun, sprinkling with granulated sugar 
several times while drying. When perfectly dry, pack in small jars, 
with a layer of sugar between each layer of tomatoes. Care must be 
taken not to let rain or dew fall on them while drying. Excellent for 
bilious people. 

ICE CREAM. 

One quart of cream, one pint of milk, a cup and a half of granu- 
lated sugar; flavor with vanilla or lemon. Beat the cream to a froth;, 
stir in the milk, sugar and flavor; freeze, and it is ready. 

PLAIN BOILED CUSTARD. 

Take one large, fresh egg; beat the yolk thoroughly with one 
table-spoonful of granulated sugar; and while doing this have a coffee- 



348 CANDY FOR THE CHILDREN. 

cupful of milk heating over the fire. Beat the white to a stiff foam; 
take the milk from the fire, and very slowly pour it over the yolk, stir- 
ring it all the while to prevent curdling; then stir in the white; pour 
all into a small tin pail, and set it inside a pot of hot water. Stir 
constantly until evenly thickened, which will require about ten minutes. 
It must not be cooked until it separates. Pour it into the cups in 
which it is to be served, and set away to cool. This custard may be 
seasoned with vanilla or any flavor preferred. It is made more attrac- 
tive by covering with a thick frosting slightly sweetened with a straw- 
berry, a cherry, or a bit of red jelly on the top. 

CANDY FOR THE CHILDREN. 

Since children crave sweets, it is much better to furnish a home- 
made article, to be certain that they are not being injured by poisonous 
colors, flavors or adulterations, which much of the candy offered for 
sale contains. Maple sugar, honey, sugar, syrup and molasses are all 
beneficial when not eaten immoderately at the beginning of a meal or 
between meals. We have collected a few recipes for home-made candy, 
that can be prepared with little trouble, and is really more delicious 
than the market article, because made of better materials. 

PEANUT CANDY. 

Shell the peanuts and chop them fine; measure them in a cup, 
and take just the same quantity of granulated sugar that there is of 
peanuts; place the sugar in a frying pan, let it heat slowly to melt 
the sugar without burning. As soon as it is melted, put in the peanuts 
and pour in buttered tins. 

BUTTER SCOTCH. 

Take 2 cups of brown sugar; h cup of butter; 4 table -spoonfuls of 
molasses; 2 table-spoonfuls of water; 2 table-spoonfuls of vinegar; boil 
all together until it hardens when dropped into cold water, then pour 
into buttered tins. 

MOLASSES CANDY. 

Two cups of brown sugar; | cup New Orleans molasses; § cup of 
vinegar and water, equal parts; a piece of butter, half the size of an 



CHOCOLATE CREAMS FRUIT CANDY. 349 

egg. Boil until the candy hardens when dropped into cold water; 
then pour into buttered tins. As soon as it is cool enough to handle, 
pull it until it is of a straw color. 

CHOCOLATE CREAMS. 

To the white of one egg add an equal quantity of cold water; stir 
in one pound of pulverized sugar; flavor with vanilla. Stir until 
fine and smooth; then mould into balls, and dip them into melted 
chocolate. 

To melt the chocolate, scrape and put it into a tin cup or small 
sauce-pan over a kettle, where it will steam. Let the chocolate be 
melting while the cream is being prepared. 

FRUIT CANDY. 

Add \ cup of water to 1 cup of granulated sugar in a sauce-pan; 
stir until dissolved; place it over a fire, and let it boil until it becomes 
crisp when dropped into water. Do not stir it after putting it on the 
fire. Dip out a spoonful at a time, and drop on buttered tins, leaving a 
space of an inch or more between each spoonful. Place on each piece 
of candy fruit of any kind, and pour ovei it enough candy to cover, but 
do not let the pieces run together. Kernels of walnuts or any kind 
of nuts may be used instead of fruit. 



350 FAMILY PETS. 



FAMILY PETS. 



It is rare to find a family in any grade of society without one or 
more pet animals upon which to lavish their affection ; yet, common as 
they are, very little is generally known concerning their proper care 
in health and disease. 

No animals are more cruelly treated than the helpless creatures 
kept as pets, because their owners, through thoughtlessness or igno- 
rance, allow them to suffer in sickness, without an attempt to relieve 
them, and in health too often deprive them of the means of keeping 
well; or, in mistaken kindness, endeavor to train them into habits 
foreign to their nature. 

One of the most cruel acts in the world is to abandon a cat or a 
dog, as many people do when they move, or to carry it a long distance 
from home and desert it. No one ought to keep any kind of a pet 
without a love for it; a creature taken away from its natural surround- 
ings, and made wholly dependent upon man, loses its ability to look 
out for itself, and must have a certain amount of care that becomes 
irksome to one not fond of pets. When such a person becomes the un- 
willing possessor of a cat, a dog or a bird, it is better to give it away to 
the first one who will treat it well than to try to keep it; sometimes no 
one can be found who wants it; then it should be killed, swiftly and 
mercifully, rather than to turn it out to starve, or to fall a prey to 
evil-disposed boys, who consider it rare sport to torture a helpless 
animal. It may be shot, but be careful to select a good marksman for 
this disagreeable duty; it may be chloroformed, which is painless, but 
not always successful; it may be quickly drowned by tying a stone 
securely to it, and dropping it into deep water. This is a merciful death, 
and the one to be preferred in most instances. When there is no river 
or pond near, a wash-tub full of water will be deep enough for anything 
except a large dog. Children should not be permitted to abuse ani- 



CRUELTY TO ANIMALS COMMON. 351 

mals; it is distressing to a humane person to see the savage traits 
inherent in human nature developing unrebuked in childhood. The 
poor, dumpish kitten or puppy, pulled about and pounded until 
incapable of defending itself, is ruthlessly caught, on attempting to 
escape, and held while baby pounds it, pulls its hair, or tumbles it over 
and over at his own sweet will. When the poor creature attempts a pro- 
test by the only means in its power — a scratch or a bite — it is promptly 
cuffed into submission. Any child may be taught kindness, sympathy, 
and self-denial in connection with the Care of its pets, and wise par- 
ents will not neglect this important part of its education. The mother 
or father who permits a child to beat, starve and otherwise ill-treat 
the creature dependent upon it for care and love, has no right to com- 
plain when in later years the selfish, cruel disposition fostered by 
tyranny toward animals fails to show them the consideration and 
respect cheerfully rendered by those who have been trained in loving 
kindness toward all living creatures, and taught to honor their father 
and their mother, as the Good Book commands. 

It is not conducive to honor or respect to see a parent, when a sick 
pet is discovered, doubled up with pain, or is heard groaning or spew- 
ing, pound it with the broom, the poker, or the boot- jack and frighten 
it nearly to death by abuse, at a moment when it is suffering and needs 
the kindest treatment. 

The whole world is aroused now and then by the recital of special 
acts of cruelty to men, women or children. Public indignation quickly 
sweeps away the conditions out of which the outrage developed; yet 
year after year the world moves on its way, while everywhere among 
civilized people, and by the family fireside, are enacted tragedies of 
cruelty and suffering at which the world would stand aghast, were 
not the consciences of men and women calloused by familiarity with 
abuse of animals, and were the lips not dumb that suffer. 

We have no space wherein to review the history of the members 
of the animal kingdom that at one time and another have acquired 
popularity as pets, and must content ourselves with a brief allusion to 
some of the more common ailments, and the treatment that usually 



352 CATS, THEIR FOOD AND MANNERS. 

proves effectual, for those most generally selected for companionship 
with man. 

CATS. 

The food, drink and housing of Pussy has everything to do with 
her health and usefulness. It is a mistake to suppose that starving a 
cat makes her a better mouser. A strong, vigorous animal makes the 
best hunter: a cat ought to be regularly fed twice a day, at least. The 
dish from which she eats should be clean, her food of good quality and 
varied, and the quantity sufficient to satisfy the appetite. 

FOOD. 

Oatmeal porridge, milk, bread and milk* and Indian meal gruel 
make a good breakfast; her second meal ought to consist mostly of 
meat, with fish occasionally. Do not give eggs until they are cooked 
and the shell is removed; if given whole, she quickly learns to help 
herself from the hen's nest. 

MANNERS. 

Teach her to wait patiently till she is served, and do not allow 
her to sit at the table or to jump upon it; your fondness for your pet 
may be so great as to enable you to overlook or to be indifferent to her 
smelling, tasting, or running over the food prepared for yourself — 
but do not expect others to be equally free from prejudice. There 
are some people whose sense of smell is so highly developed that they 
detect the odor of the cleanest cat on everything she has touched; 
therefore, it is better to make special provision for Kitty than to make 
martyrs of your friends by allowing her full possession of everything 
she fancies. 

A square inch of fresh butter given her occasionally not only acts 
as a gentle laxative, but gives her fur a fine gloss. Those who wish to 
have her make an extra fine appearance touch her all over with a 
sponge dipped in fresh cream; when she licks herself, it gives her coat 
a handsome finish. 

Too much meat is injurious; liver especially is apt to induce a 
troublesome diarrhoea. 



CARE FOE KITTY'S COMFOET. 353 

DKINK. 

A dish of water ought to be placed where the cat may drink 
when she pleases. This dish should be washed every day, and filled 
with clean water. Milk does not quench thirst as well as water, and 
should be given as food, not as drink. During the winter, look to it that 
the drinking dish is kept free from ice. 

HOUSING. 

A cat ought to have a good, clean bed in a sheltered place. It 
is wrong to turn her out of doors at night to prowl around and suffer 
with cold or damp. A properly trained cat will not make any filth 
in the house. A box of sand or earth ought to be provided in- doors, 
to which Puss can be easily taught to resort, and thus save the necessity 
of some member of the family arising in the night to let her out, and 
at the same time effectually prevent any soiling of the floor or furni- 
ture. 

MEDICINE . 

There are two remedies with which every cat ought to be pro- 
vided — grass and catnip. She knows how much she ought co take, and 
which is needed. Those who live in the city ought to make an effort to 
provide these occasionally, whether the cat is ailing or not. Grass acts 
as an emetic, also as a laxative, according to the way it is taken. Catnip 
is excellent for fits; castor oil is the best cathartic when one is needed. 

DIARKHGEA. 

This generally follows irregular feeding, or exposure to wet and 
cold. Fat meat will bring it on, or too much liver. It makes the 
animal very poor, and, if not attended to, will end in death. Begin in 
the treatment by giving half a tea-spoonful of castor oil. Six hours 
after give a tea-spoonful of Dr. Winchell's Teething Syrup, or an equal 
quantity of a preparation containing eight drops of laudanum, one tea- 
spoonful of a 2% per cent, solution of carbolic acid, and one ounce of 
water. This dose may be repeated every three or four hours, as long 
as needed. Milk and lime water should be the only food given during 
the illness. Keep Puss in a warm place, and do not allow her to be 
handled or disturbed. 



354 DISEASES OF CATS. 

CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. 

This disease may be recognized by refusal of food, frequent attacks 
of vomiting, and loss of flesh. It often follows an attempt to poison a 
cat. The remedy is an occasional dose of castor oil, or rhubarb syrup, 
and a milk diet, with fresh fish and raw beef given twice a day. If 
there is difficulty in keeping anything in the stomach at first, begin 
with pills made by moistening bread crumbs with a one per cent, solu- 
tion of carbolic acid, and made up the usual size of large pills. Give 
one twice a day; a tea-spoonful of glycerine will sometimes allay the 
inflammation when everything else fails. 

BRONCHITIS. 

Cats are very subject to this disorder, in consequence of catching 
cold. It begins with shivering and a slight cough. They become 
very ill for a day or two, and then the acute stage passes on into the 
chronic form. There is now apparent difficulty in breathing, constant 
cough, the tongue hangs over the lower lip, the eyes water, and matter 
collects about the edges of the lids. The appetite is irregular— some- 
times eager and again absent. 

Treatment. — Give a dose of castor oil, when there is no diarrhoea; 
when there is, combine two drops of laudanum with it. Keep the cat 
in the house in a warm place, and feed her on beef tea and bread or 
bread and milk. The only medicines required are cod-liver oil, in tea- 
spoonful doses twice a day for a fortnight, and Eilert's Extract of Tar 
and Wild Cherry. These will subdue the cough when there is any re- 
lief for it. 

CONSUMPTION. 

Cats which grow thin, have a rough coat, and refuse food are said 
to have consumption; this is not necessarily a disease of the lungs. 
They should have a thorough bath, and be carefully dried after it; they 
need a clean, warm bed, raw meat in small quantities twice a day, and 
cod-liver oil with grass and catnip, as wanted, and small doses of Happy 
Home Blood Purifier three times a day. Sometimes they need small 
doses of castor oil, repeated every three days. 



THE YELLOWS MILK FEVER. 355 

FITS. 

During a fit, hold hartshorn to the nose orcholoroform; sometimes 
drawing a little blood will bring Puss out of a fit; to do this make a 
small incision on the lower and back part of the ear, and foment with 
hot water. 

The aft,er- treatment depends upon the condition; the fat, heavy 
cat must be given less food and very little meat, with occasional 
doses of castor oil. When weak and emaciated, give plenty of warm 
milk; it is better when a little suet is boiled in it; cod-liver oil also is 
useful. The best remedy to keep off fits is fresh catnip herb; let her 
have access to it, and she will take it as often as needed. Harsh hand- 
ling, and the rough play of children, are frequently the exciting cause 
of fits in a cat; she must be well treated and not frightened, or medicine 
will produce no lasting effect. 

THE YELLOWS. 

This disease is equally fatal to cats and dogs. It is caused by 
overfeeding, with too little exercise. Those animals that are kept 
closely confined and pampered are most subject to this disorder. There 
is at first feverishness, loss of appetite, and shivering; afterwards 
vomiting of a bright yellow or dark green fluid, mixed with froth. 
Should this be allowed to continue without treatment, diarrhoea sets in 
and causes death. Give at the beginning of the sickness half a tea- 
spoonful of Glauber's salt dissolved in water, or twice the amount of cas- 
tor oil; follow it by carbolic acid made into pills with bread crumbs; mix 
three drops of strong acid with enough moist bread to make six pills; 
give one every three hours, and when all are taken give Dr. Winchell's 
Teething Syrup to relieve the diarrhoea. Half a tea-spoonful may be 
given twice a day. 

Dysentery may be treated the same as yellows. 

MILK FEVEK. 

Do not take all the kittens away from a cat at once ; she ought 
always to rear one. In milk fever the paps are swollen and painful, 
the milk is suppressed, and she either tries to kill her kittens or grows 



356 SKIN DISEASES SORE EYES. 

dull and stupid. Foment the teats with hot water, bathe with Uncle 
Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment, and give internally three drops of 
camphor tincture diluted with milk and water, three times a day. 
One tea-spoonful of castor oil should also be given when the trouble is 
first noticed. 

SKIN DISEASES. 

These are usually caused by parasites. The animal should be 
bathed in warm carbolized water; let every part of the skin receive a 
good soaking, but take care to keep the eyes from being irritated. 
Dry the fur quickly ; then rub into the skin an ointment composed of 
ten grains of white precipitate in one ounce of mutton suet. Occa- 
sionally the skin becomes diseased from improper food. A cat should 
be fed on clean material; when driven out to steal her living, Puss is 
often compelled to eat substances filled with disease germs, or that 
are partially decayed; it can not be expected that she will remain 
healthy under such circumstances. The skin disease produced in this 
way calls for internal remedies. The carbolic acid pills recommended 
for the yellows may be given for several days; but, more important 
than all, she must have clean water to drink and wholesome food to 
eat; let her have fresh grass also. When she has been fed on sweets 
and dainties often, and without regularity, her diet must be changed; 
give only two meals a day, and let them consist principally of bread 
and milk, with a little fresh meat once a day. Liver must not be 
given too freely; it disorders the stomach when it constantly forms the 
main part of the food. A pinch of sulphur ought to be given twice 
a day — in milk, if she will take it that way; if not, make into pills with 
bread crumbs. 

SOKE EYES. 

Cats frequently suffer with inflammation of the eyes, due to colds 
or injuries. Bathe them with hot weak tea, containing a few drops of 
carbolic acid, and dry them gently. This may be repeated two or 
three days, after which another remedy will be needed, if not cured 
A bit of alum the size of a marrowfat pea, dissolved in four table- 
spoons of soft water, or two grains of sulphate of zinc to an ounce of 



DOGS AND THEIR DISEASES. 



357 



water, are both good remedies. Pour a few drops into each eye twice 
a day. 

ULCERS AND SORES. 

These are often seen on the ears or cheeks; one of the lotions 
named above may be applied after once washing them clean ; when 
these fail to cure, apply the precipitate ointment recommended for 
skin diseases. 

SORE THROAT. 

Do not permit a cat suffering from sore and swollen throat to 
stay among the children. It is known that cats are subject to diphthe- 
ria, and some outbreaks of the disease which have a mysterious origin 
could no doubt be traced to this household pet. The same treatment 
recommended for human beings will do for animals suffering with 
diphtheria. It is better, however, to kill them immediately than to run 
the risk of infecting the family. 



DOGS AND THEIE DISEASES. 

Man's faithful friend, the dog, is subject to many diseases, some 
of which may be wholly prevented, and others greatly alleviated by a 
little care on the part of his owner. 

The dog, like the cat, is naturally cleanly when he is given a 
chance, and his health also is dependent almost entirely upon his food, 
his drink and his shelter. 

POOD. 

The dog digests his food very slowly, therefore he needs only one 
meal a day. The food should be plain, wholesome, and suited to the 
circumstances under which he exists. Sweet cake, candy, tea and 
other dainties are not suited to him, and his digestive machinery is 
sure to get out of order when confined to such a diet. It is better to 
give food at noon, or, if two meals are allowed, let one be given in the 
morning and the other at night. He should not be fed immediately 
after exercise, until he has had time to rest and become cool, nor just 
before he is to take active exercise ; running or long walks with a full 
stomach often causes fits. The quantity must be sufficient to fully 



358 CLEANLINESS NECESSARY TO THE HEALTH OF DOGS. 

satisfy the animal. When he has eaten some time, then pauses, looks 
around, leaves the dish, returns to it, and makes an attempt to eat a 
little more, he has had enough, and the remnants of his food should be 
taken away. Flesh is the dog's natural food in his wild state, and is 
undoubtedly the best for watch dogs, hunting dogs, and those kept 
out of doors. Lap dogs and house pets do not need meat beyond an 
occasional bone; bread with milk, oatmeal porridge, and potatoes 
should be their food. Indian meal mush is an excellent addition to a 
meat diet for animals that are expected to work. The meat fed to dogs 
should be clean and free from vermin. The eggs of tape-worms, de- 
posited in filthy meat and taken with the food, develop very readily in 
the intestinal canal of dogs. Raw liver is often infested with flukes, a 
species of worm which develop in the animals feeding upon it, making 
them unhealthy. Bones are of great value, assisting them in cleaning 
the teeth and aiding digestion, but should never be given until the 
appetite is partially satiated with other food; otherwise, they are apt to 
eat as much of the bone as possible, and portions may lodge in the throat 
to their injury. Do not seek to persuade a dog to eat against his will; 
he will not refuse food when he needs it, unless he is sick, and then he 
needs a special diet. Meat should never be given to puppies until they 
are at least five months old, and then it should only be given a little at 
a time, until they are a year old. 

CLEAN WATER SHOULD BE FURNISHED PLENTIFULLY. 

There are few animals that suffer more for want of water than 
dogs. It should be accessible to them at all times; for they take little 
at once, but need it often. They perspire from their mouth, and the 
practice of muzzling them in a way to keep the jaws closed is a cruel 
one. When necessary for them to wear a muzzle, let it be of wire, 
and large enough to permit them to open the mouth wide, and of a 
shape that will permit them to drink water. Their drink should be 
clean, and the receptacle containing it needs to be washed daily. 

DOGS MUST BE KEPT CLEAN. 

Long-haired dogs need special care to prevent their hair from 
becoming matted and harboring insects. Those breeds which natu- 



METHOD OF GIVING DOGS MEDICINE. 6b\) 

Tally take to the water will wash themselves when they have access to a 
river or pond. All dogs ought to be washed about once a month; use 
soap and water, if necessary, to make them clean — but rinse all the soap 
off, or it will irritate the skin. See that they are thoroughly dried, and 
are given a clean bed in a warm place, while any dampness remains. 
The hair ought to be combed out to prevent matting, and to pre- 
serve it. The brush is far better to give a handsome coat than any 
medicine. 

SLEEPING PLACE. 

Dogs ought to be provided with a dry, sheltered place to sleep. 
It is very cruel to allow a dog to remain in the house and around the 
fire during the day, and then turn him out at night to take care of 
himself. He is very subject to rheumatism, and this custom is largely 
responsible for it. He should at least have plenty of clean, dry straw, 
and a bed large enough that he may not be compelled to occupy a 
•cramped position in sleep. 

GIVING MEDICINE. 

Medicines are prepared in the form of a pill or a draught. The 
former may be given in two ways: (1) Taking the animal in the lap, or 
rearing him between the knees, grasp the upper part of the mouth in 
the hand, and thrust the lips on either side between the teeth ; this gives 
security from being bitten, the dog being afraid of biting or hurting 
himself. The head is then raised, the pill dropped into the back part 
of the mouth, the jaws closed and held together; if the animal refuses 
to swallow, place the fingers on the sides of the nose, compressing the 
nostrils, and this will compel him to do so. (2) The other method is to 
inclose the pill in a piece of meat, and let the dog bolt it. 

To give a draught, place the animal in the same position as for 
the pill ; draw the angle of the mouth away from the teeth, and into the 
pouch thus formed pour the medicine; if he refuses to swallow, close 
his nostrils. Tasteless medicine may be given in milk or broth. 

THROAT AND LUNG DISORDERS. 

Dogs have colds, catarrh, bronchitis, pneumonia, etc., the same as 
human beings, and the treatment is similar. Warmth, cleanliness, and 



360 DISEASES OF MOUTH AND STOMACH. 

stimulation of excretions are called for. The food should be prin- 
cipally warm soups and milk. Chronic throat and lung disorders 
demand a change in diet and housing. The animal must be fed 
sparingly when very fat; asthma and similar troubles are sometimes 
relieved by reducing the daily allowance of food to a single bone with 
a small amount of meat adhering to it ; this is recommended for pets 
which have been overfed and indulged with dainties, which are not 
the natural diet for them. On the contrary, when the animal is thin, 
a fattening diet is needed; suet and cod-liver oil should be given regu- 
larly. An emetic of warm water, with a little salt and mustard, will 
often cut short an attack of difficult breathing. Castor oil makes a 
good cathartic for a dog. 

DECAYED TEETH, TARTAR AND CANKER. 

There is no doubt that the dog frequently suffers severely from 
toothache ; this may be suspected when he eats in a slobbering manner, 
or refuses to eat, holds his head on one side, and appears dumpish. 
Decayed teeth ought to be extracted; when the bleeding which follows 
is excessive, insert in the socket a bit of cotton batting moistened in 
alum and water. Tartar sometimes collects in large quantities on the 
teeth of old dogs; the gums become swollen and ulcerated, the breath 
disgustingly foetid, and the health suffers. It should be scaled off, the 
teeth brushed with charcoal, and the gums bathed with tincture of 
myrrh. Give a large bone to gnaw. Canker is often troublesome; 
when the mouth contains decaying teeth, remove them and cleanse the 
sores with a one per cent, solution of carbolic acid; also give a tea- 
spoonful internally twice a day. The following mouth wash is also 
excellent for canker: Alum, five grains; tincture myrrh, half a drachm; 
water, three ounces. Mix and bathe the mouth twice a day. 

DISEASES OF THE STOMACH. 

The irregularity with which they are fed, and the lack of suitable 
food, is the cause of most of the digestive troubles of dogs. The 
symptoms are loss of appetite or a capricious one, constipation or diar- 
rhoea, flatulency, thirst, vomiting and bloating. The food must be 



PARASITIC DISEASES OF DOGS. 361 

looked after; if overfed, reduce it to a bone; if not sufficiently varied, 
change it. Give castor oil for the constipation; compound syrup of 
rhubarb for diarrhoea; small doses of bi-carbonate of soda and char- 
coal, ten grains of each in a pill for flatulency, and lime water with 
milk and bread for diet, when meat has previously formed the bulk of 
it. The dog must have daily out-door exercise. It is not sufficient to 
give him an airing in a carriage; let him run and take exercise in the 
way natural to him. 

WORMS AND OTHEB PARASITBB. 

The presence of worms is made known by a dry, husky cough,, 
foul breath, vomiting, colic, voracious appetite with loss of flesh, a 
rough coat, and sometimes by fits or paralysis. Treatment: Mix one 
small tea-spoonful oil turpentine with an equal amount of castor oil, 
and give for one dose. Eepeat it in three days, if necessary. Dr. 
Jaques' German Worm Cakes in double the dose recommended for 
children is a very effectual vermifuge. It should be followed in a few 
hours by a tea- spoonful of castor oil. The dog-house 1 must be thor- 
oughly cleansed and disinfected with one of the solutions recommended 
for disinfecting houses ; let it dry and then provide fresh bedding. 

SKIN DISEASES. 

Mange is similar to itch in man. Filth and neglect favor it, but 
alone can not produce it. The skin itches intensely, and a close exami- 
nation will show small, red points like flea bites. The disease must be 
treated early to prevent its spreading to all parts of the body. The 
animal becomes a miserable object when neglected, and when the 
owner is not willing to take the trouble necessary to cure the disease, 
a sense of humanity ought to impel him to kill it and end its misery. 
The treatment, however, is not difficult. The hair when long should be 
shaved, and the whole body thoroughly washed with soap and water. 
All mats or blankets on which the dog has slept should be boiled in a 
disinfectant. Straw or other bedding should be burned, and until the 
animal is cured he should have no other bedding than straw or shav- 
ings. The same lotion and ointment may be employed as recommended 



362 MANGE RINGWORM INJURIES. 

for itch in human beings. For house-dogs, and especially those hav- 
ing very fine skins and smooth hair, an excellent and safe remedy is 
the balsam of Peru dissolved in alcohol- — one of balsam to four 
of alcohol. This has no unpleasant odor, and will cure the disorder 
when it has existed but a short time. Wash the skin with warm soap 
suds, to soften the crusts, before applying. 

HED MANGE 

is similar to salt-rheum or tetter in man, and is ordinarily due to 
lack of exercise and injudicious feeding. An excess of animal food 
without exercise overheats the system, and overloads the blood with 
elements that are not needed. Nature tries to remove them through 
the skin, and an eruption is the result. 

A bread and milk diet must be given, and an aperient dose of 
castor oil. Happy Home Blood Purifier in tea-spoonful doses, twice a 
day, is very useful in all skin diseases, as well as canker and indigestion 
in dogs, when the diet is suitably modified. There is a soap, not 
designed for medical purposes, which contains a large amount of tar, 
and is unexcelled in cleansing sores and healing chapped and cracked 
surfaces. It can not be too highly recommended in all diseased con- 
ditions of animals attended by irritation of the skin ; it is called Uncle 
Sam's Harness Soap, and is for sale by druggists and harness dealers 
everywhere. Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment makes an excel- 
lent healing application after cleansing the eruption. 

RINGWORM. 

Shave the hair over it, and soak the scaly surface in a strong soap 
suds, made with the Harness Soap recommended above; then treat as 
described for the same disease in man. 

ABSCESSES, BRUISES, ULCERS, ETC., 

are also treated the same as in man. Abscesses need poulticing until 
they are soft and the pus is formed, when they should be opened and 
thoroughly cleansed. Bruises may be treated by hot water fomenta- 
tions; ulcers need to be bathed in carbolized water, and when they 
look unhealthy the surface must be cauterized with nitrate of silver. 
Uncle Sams Nerve and Bone Liniment makes an excellent healing 
application. 



METHOD OF TKEATING FITS IN DOGS. 363 



Dogs of all breeds are very liable to fits, and the epileptic form is 
the one most frequently seen. They are very liable to be mistaken for 
hydrophobia, with which they really have no connection. The animal, 
apparently in perfect health, is in a moment seized with a fit. He sud- 
denly reels, as though intoxicated — falls on his side, and violent con- 
vulsive spasms attack the muscles, especially of the legs, which keep 
up a continuous kicking motion. Frequently a sharp bark escapes 
from the animal when he falls, and sometimes there is a whimpering 
cry. During the attack the urine and fseces are often voided. The 
tongue is sometimes severely bitten, the gums are of a leaden or livid 
hue, the mouth filled with frothy saliva, and the eyes are unnaturally 
prominent. Five minutes after the attack the animal is usually oa 
his legs, and may appear in perfect health. Sometimes he lies mo- 
tionless and unconscious for half an hour, as if sound asleep. The 
dog recovering from an epileptic fit has a peculiar, bewildered look. 
On regaining his feet, he either makes off as fast as he can run, or 
rushes viciously at those about him. The latter is one of the most 
unpleasant symptoms of the disease, for the animal is for the moment 
unfriendly alike to friends and strangers; this is what leads the spec- 
tators to believe the animal is mad. 

Treatment. — A dog seized with a fit should be secured for the 
double purpose of preventing his biting any one, or running away. 
Do not tie anything around the neck to compress the blood vessels, 
or dangerous results will follow. Cold water may be poured on the 
head and dashed in the face; when convenient bathe the back part of 
the head with some stimulating liniment. The after-treatment should 
be directed to finding the cause and removing it. 

The Cause. — It may be worms, which should be removed, as directed 
elsewhere. The teeth may be in bad order; they should receive atten- 
tion. Suppression of secretions or evacuations are a frequent source 
of fits; these must be restored by cathartics, emetics or a blood purifier. 
If they arise from suckling, remove the whelps, or all but one, and 



364 HYDROPHOBIA TIME OF INCUBATION. 

give a more nutritious diet. If due to over-exertion directly after 
eating, do not repeat the cause. Sometimes excessively fat animals are 
affected in consequence of rapid exertion, for which they are unfit; a 
reduction of their food supply is demanded. Too much fresh meat is 
an occasional cause; this demands a mixed diet, principally bread and 
milk. 

HYDROPHOBIA. 

The origin of hydrophobia is unknown. The poison which pro- 
duces the disease is in the saliva of the affected animals, and there is 
good reason to believe that it may be found in other secretions. It is 
conveyed from one animal to another, and to man by inoculation; no 
breed of dogs is free from it, but homeless, roving animals are more 
frequently attacked than others. A great many observations have 
been made to determine how long a period is required for the disease 
to develop. One experimenter had 68 dogs confined where they could 
be watched, after being bitten by an animal known to be suffering 
from hydrophobia. One dog began to exhibit decided symptoms on 
the fifth day, and hydrophobia was fully developed on the tenth; ten 
of them showed no signs of infection until the thirtieth day, and 
on the thirty-fifth the malady was at its height; the longest period 
that elapsed before the inoculated dog became mad was one hundred 
days; the rest of them were attacked at varying intervals between the 
fifth and hundredth days. Comparing the results of many recorded 
observations, the average period between the exposure and develop- 
ment of the disease is three months. What takes place during this 
period we do not know; but the wound usually heals, and rarely shows 
any sign of irritation afterward. The duration of hydrophobia is 
from one to ten days ; most deaths occur on the fifth day. This strange 
disorder assumes two forms — the furious and the dumb. The first form 
is marked by a distinct change in the dog's natural manner and habits; 
he becomes all at once sullen, or melancholy; retires into dark places, 
and when called he either pays no attention or slinks off again. The 
eyes look vacant, and when they meet the gaze of the observer they 
droop in a weary, sleepy manner. As the disease proceeds he becomes 



DUMB AND FURIOUS HYDROPHOBIA. 



365 



destructive: he tears the carpet and clothing — or, if confined in his 
kennel, he scatters the straw, and destroys anything he can; he appears 
to be delirious, snapping and barking at imaginary objects. A flow 
of tenacious saliva now occurs. The animal grinds his teeth and 
strives to free his mouth with his paws, seeming to have a bone in his 
throat. Attempts to dislodge it has sealed the fate of more than one 
person, either by being bitten, or, what is equally dangerous, through 
having a scratch or raw spot on the hand, which the saliva infected. 
The voice becomes altered, having a croupy sound, most frequently 
heard at night. The breathing is short and painful, and the animal 
appears to be exhausted; he may sink into a state of stupor, or die in 
a paroxysm of rage. Another important symptom is the appetite ; this 
is unnatural: he swallows pieces of wood, stones, earth, hair, excre- 
ment and other filth, while he refuses his ordinary meal. His mode of 
locomotion is peculiar. The head is carried low, the tongue hangs out of 
the mouth, and is swollen. He rarely turns from his path to attack 
anything unless it be another dog, but he savagely bites and tears any 
one who attempts to stop him. He runs until exhaustion overtakes 
him, or a fit, when he lies in an unconscious state for hours. 

The dumb madness has about the same symptoms as the preced- 
ing form, except that the voice is silent, and there is paralysis of the 
muscles of the jaw, allowing it to drop. Complete paralysis occurs 
"before death. Animals or persons bitten by a dog with dumb hydro- 
phobia may suffer from the furious form, and vice versa, showing that 
they are only different varieties of the same disease. 

It would save much unnecessary anxiety to shut up a dog that has 
"bitten either men or other animals, and is suspected of being mad, to 
await the development of his disorder; in many instances it would be 
found that he is not mad, but suffering from some harmless complaint. 
Should it prove to be hydrophobia he can then be destroyed, and his 
victims will be more likely to receive energetic treatment than when 
there exists any doubt as to their danger. 

DISTEMPER. 

Distemper may be described as a catarrhal fever, or, more correctly, 
an influenza, which affects not only the mucous membranes of the 



366 TREATMENT OF DISTEMPER. 

head, the air passages and alimentary canal, but involves the nervous 
system, as shown by fits and paralysis. It is highly contagious, but 
frequently originates where direct contagion can not be traced. The 
causes which favor its development are badly-drained and ill-ventilated 
sleeping places, exposure to damp and cold, poor food, over-feeding 
with flesh, and too little exercise. Worms are believed to aggravate 
the trouble. As the disease is coming on the dog has a heavy, sleepy 
look, the nose is hot and dry ; there is loss of appetite, shivering, arched 
back and apparent weariness. Two or three days later a watery dis- 
charge takes place from the nose and eyes; there is frequent sneezing, 
followed by coughing and vomiting. The watery discharge soon be- 
comes thick and white, the eye-lids inflamed and swollen, the breathing 
rapid; the dog seems chilly, and loses strength fast. 

Treatment. — Place the animal in a clean, warm and dry place that 
is well ventilated. Give him an emetic consisting of a tea-spoonful 
each of mustard and salt in warm water; give him also a dose of cas- 
tor oil, and bathe the neck and chest with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone 
Liniment. Eilert's Tar and Wild Cherry is excellent for the cough, 
which is nearly always present; give from a half to one tea-spoonful, 
according to the size of the animal, three times daily. After the disease 
has existed several days and weakness increases, give a grain of quinine 
in the morning and at night, for a week or more. The food should be 
light, warm, and mostly liquid, such as milk, broth or porridge of oat- 
meal or Indian meal. The eyes need care to preserve the sight; bathe 
them in hot water and drop in a mild astringent lotion ; a good one con- 
sists of two grains of alum dissolved in one ounce of soft water. The 
method of treating ophthalmia in human beings is a good one for a 
similar affection of the eyes in the lower animals. 

Great distress in breathing, and severe inflammation of the lungs, 
complicating distemper, calls for hot baths, after which the dog must 
be carefully dried, and his chest covered with hot flannel. He must 
be well housed and carefully attended to until prefectly restored; neg- 
lect not only protracts it indefinitely, but is liable to make the ani- 



GENERAL CARE OF CANARY BIRDS. 367 

mal worthless by inducing fits or paralysis, which are exceedingly 
difficult to cure when the result of distemper. 



CANARY BIRDS. 

No household pets are deserving of better care than the delicate 
feathered songsters whose cheerful notes add so much to the pleasure 
of the home circle. They are, however, subject to many cruelties 
through the thoughtlessness of those upon whose care they are de- 
pendent. 

The practice of hanging birds out at a window in a small cage 
open on all sides, and so fully exposed alike to the burning rays of 
the sun and the chilling winds, can not be too strongly condemned. 
The little prisoners suffer greatly from draughts after being confined 
in a hot room for some time. The custom of hanging the cage in the 
upper part of the room, where the heat is greatest, unfits them for 
resisting the effect of cold air when the window beneath is raised to 
ventilate the room, or an outside door is opened. We have seen a 
large lamp thoughtlessly set beneath a metal cage, until the bird within 
had nearly perished from heat. The cage is often too small, not giving 
the little prisoner sufficient room for exercise. 

BATHS. 

Canaries need to be daily supplied with fresh water for a bath; 
they will not bathe in dirty water. Provide them with a bathing dish 
which holds not less than a gill of water; a small vegetable dish will 
answer when a regular bath dish can not be found. After the bird 
has bathed, dry the cage with a soft cloth and take out the bath dish. 

DRINK. 

A cage bird is very liable to suffer from thirst. The drinking cup 
should be cleaned daily, and filled up, so that the bird can easily drink 
the water. It should be kept free from ice in the winter and fully sup- 
plied in summer; if not looked after, evaporation will lower it beyond 
reach. 

DIET. 

A plain, simple diet is far more likely to keep canaries in health 
than the choicest variety that their owners are tempted to give them. 



368 CONSEQUENCE TO CANARIES OF COLDS. 

The best regular daily food is a mixture of rape and canary seed, with 
a few hemp seeds in winter; they are too oily and heating for warm 
weather. Hemp seed should be cracked, for the shell is too hard to be 
broken by weakly or young birds. Seed must be kept where mice 
can not get at it. Birds will not eat seed smelling of mice until they 
are nearly starved; the inside of the seeds also may be eaten out, 
while they look to be perfect, and carelessness in this respect may 
result in the death of the birds. Seeds should not be preserved in a 
cigar box; the odor of tobacco is injurious to birds, while it is possible 
that bits of it may be mixed with the seeds, and poison them. The 
seed box should be cleaned daily, the husks blown away, and the good 
seed returned to the box. Always see that there is seed enough left at 
night for the bird's breakfast. Young birds especially suffer severely 
when compelled to wait for late risers to feed them. A little hard yolk 
of egg, ant's eggs, small worms, and spiders may be occasionally given 
— also lettuce, cabbage leaf, water-cresses, celery, and a slice of apple; 
but all food except seeds must be given sparingly. Pastry, sugar and 
other delicacies not only spoil their digestion, but produce slow con- 
sumption. Birds need plenty of clean, dry sand — enough to roll in, 
which they are fond of doing. Cuttle-bone is beneficial in two ways: 
it serves to polish their bills and aids digestion. It ought to be clean, 
and placed where they can easily reach it. 

COLDS. 

Canaries often take cold, in consequence of draughts from open 
doors or windows, sudden changes of temperature, and particularly 
the great difference between the day and night in the atmosphere of 
living rooms. Their voice is hoarse, they sneeze and shake their heads. 
Treatment: Keep them warm and free from the causes that gave rise 
to the sickness. The nostrils need opening when they are closed by 
tenacious, sticky mucus — to do which, dip a small feather in sweet oil, 
and draw it through the orifices. 

GAPES, OK THE PIP. 

Young birds are liable to a disease which resembles the " gapes " 
of poultry. The bird mopes, is uncomfortable, ruffles up its feathers, 






DISEASES OF CANARIES, WITH TREATMENT. 369 

and keeps opening its bill, as if it wanted air. The bill is dry and 
yellowish underneath the eyes, and looks diseased. The tongue be- 
comes dry and rough, and the orifices of the nose are stopped. This 
is supppsed to originate in a cold, and should be treated in the same 
way. Moisten the tongue with glycerine, when very dry. Give warm 
milk, containing a little pinch of pepper, and also give water-cress, or 
celery tops. 

ASTHMA. 

Very little can be done for this complaint, except to regulate the 
diet. Give rape seed only, and plenty of bread moistened with water, 
lettuce, water- cress and ripe apple. Keep the cage and all dishes 
used in and around it very clean; after washing the cage, also after a 
bath, dry the cage and perches, as dampness increases the difficulty of 
breathing. 

CONSUMPTION. 

A bird is known to be suffering from this complaint when it 
inflates and distends itself, and its feathers are ruffled, while it loses 
flesh. Give it a common spider for a purge ; it needs also iron for the 
blood, which is given by placing a rusty nail in the water of its drink- 
ing cup. Give water-cresses, or celery freely; keep it out of draughts, 
and do not give it messes or sweets. 

CONSTIPATION. 

This malady is detected by observing that the birds are frequently 
trying to evacuate, but are unable to do so. Make a small stick— about 
the size of a match — perfectly smooth, dip it in olive or castor oil, and 
gently thrust it into the rectum; also make the bird swallow a few 
drops of the oil. 

, DIARRHOEA AND DYSENTERY. 

The bird evacuates a chalky substance, which hangs to the feathers ; 
it is very irritating, and inflames the anus. Cleanse the parts carefully 
with carbolized warm water, and anoint with cosmoline. If it appears 
to be in pain, give two or three drops of camphor in water; and for 
food, boiled bread and milk with a little pepper. Hot milk and lime 
water is useful when the bird is very weak. 



370 



EPILEPSY PARASITES STOPPAGE OF FAT- GLANDS. 



TYMPANY. 

One part of the body, sometimes the whole, is puffed up tense as 
a drum. Puncture at the point where the skin is most tense with a 
needle to let the air escape, after which the bird will usually recover; 
give soft, plain food for a day or two. 

EPILEPSY. 

This is a common malady among birds. They are found uncon- 
scious in the bottom of the cage, with feathers fluffed out. Birds that 
begin to lay eggs early, while the weather is still cold, are more liable 
to fits than at any other time. They need iron ; a rusty nail in their 
water cup, and a small quantity of hard boiled egg yolk peppered, and 
green food, of which water-cress and celery are the best. Do not give 
them cake, sugar, candy, or anything else, except canary and hemp 
seed. Keep them warm and free from a chill. 

EGG-BOUND. 

The bird is noticed to be drooping; she is a long time making 
a nest, and seems weak. She will be found crouching on the floor of 
the cage, or in a heap on her perch. No egg is laid, and she continues 
to grow worse. Take a small camel's hair brush, dip it in castor oil, 
insert it in the vent of the bird, and also pour two or three drops in the 
bill, and compel her to swallow it. This will generally be sufficient to 
relieve her, and next day she will be all right. 

STOPPAGE OF FAT GLANDS. 

Every bird has a small gland located above the tail that secretes 
oil, with which the plumage is dressed to keep moisture from passing 
through it. If the bird sits drooping, with tail bending downward, 
and the feathers are dry and ruffled, while the bird frequently pecks at 
the gland, an examination will commonly show it to be swollen and 
closed. Moisten it with Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment occa- 
sionally, until softened a little; then, with a dull needle or fine knitting 
needle, gently open it. Bepeat the application of the liniment until 
the swelling disappears. 

PARASITES. 

Birds that are restless at night, and are observed to be feeling 
with their beak about the abdomen, are probably infested with small, 



TREATMENT OF CLAWS AND BEAK. 371 

yellow insects, called lice or mites. Sometimes the feathers become 
rough, and those on the wings are shed until the skin becomes quite 
bare and red. This means that the birds have small, red lice, nearly 
invisible to the naked eye. These may, without being discovered, be- 
come so numerous as to destroy the bird. Fill the bath dish with 
clean water, and set beneath the bird in the cage, after it is at rest for 
the night; if the water be examined in the morning sometimes lice will 
be found floating on it, when none can be found on the bird. Mix ten 
grains white precipitate in half a tea-cupful of warm water; dip the 
bird in it, taking care not to let the lotion touch the eyes or bill; let 
the feathers become thoroughly saturated, and with a camel's hair 
brush moisten those around the eyes; then wash the bird in warm water 
containing a little mild soap; wrap in a piece of flannel, and lay it in a 
warm place to dry. Clean the cage, perches, dishes, and throw away 
all seed, cuttle-bone, and everything the bird has been using. Pour 
the precipitate lotion in the cage and over the perches, and then rinse 
in soap suds; wipe it dry, and return the bird to it. 

OVEBGEOWN CLAWS AND BEAK. 

These have a bad effect on the health, because the bird is afraid 
of becoming entangled in the wires of the cage or other objects about 
it, and will therefore mope and refuse food; therefore, they should be 
properly trimmed with a pair of sharp scissors. Care should be taken 
not to cut them so closely as to draw blood. This may be avoided by 
holding the claw to be operated upon to the light, when the vessels 
may be seen. Grasp the bird firmly, yet very gently, using no haste. 

LOADED FEET. 

The feet sometimes become loaded with a thick crust, which clogs 
them. Take a saucer, containing lukewarm soft water; catch the bird, 
and hold the feet in the bath for at least five minutes. Hub them 
gently; repeat daily for three or four times. This trouble is caused by 
dirty cage or a lack of sand. While the bird is being treated, give it a 
cracked hemp-seed to quiet its fear. Let the bird stand on a bed of 
fine dry oatmeal for a moment, when the bath is over; this dries the 



372 man's duty to dumb animals. 

feet, while its dust does not harm the feathers. Anoint the feet with a 
good liniment, and keep the cage clean. 

BROKEN LIMBS. 

A bird with a broken leg ought to be placed on soft flannel ; its 
seed and water cup being placed near, that it may help itself without 
being obliged to flutter about. Give it plenty of chickweed, water- 
cress and apple; keep it warm and quiet; straighten the broken bone; 
wrap it in a little soft cotton, and bind on a splint. Be sure to turn 
the foot in the right direction before fastening the bone. 

MOULTING. 

Birds need to be well nourished during the time of moulting, and 
must be carefully kept from exposures liable to give them a cold. 
Place a rusty nail in their drinking dish; give boiled egg yolk, and 
when they appear to be drooping mix a very little powdered cayenne 
pepper with milk, and feed to them once or twice a day. 

OUR DUTY TO DUMB ANIMALS. 

To many of our readers it may be a new thought, yet it is none 
the less true, that man incurs a duty in taking under his protection 
members of the animal creation for his amusement or convenience. 
Left to a state of nature, these creatures are endowed with instinct 
which enables them to adapt themselves to their sorroundings and to 
provide for their own wants. Removed from these conditions, and 
thrown wholly upon man for the necessities of life, their instinct be- 
comes latent — at least, it is not adapted to their domesticated state; 
therefore, as man is responsible for this helplessness, it is his duty to 
make provision not only for the existence, but the happiness of the 
dumb creatures he adopts for his companions. 



" they are all — the meanest things that are — 

As free to live, and to enjoy that life, 
As God was free to form them at the first, 
Who in His sovereign wisdom made them all. 
Ye, therefore, who have mercy, teach your sons 
To love it too." 



INDEX. 



TAGE. 

Abscess caused by decayed teeth 23 

Accidents and emergencies 287 

Accidents affecting the eyes . 74 

Accidents from poisons. _. 317 

Acids in the eyes.. - 78 

Acid poisons 309 

Ague, the 178 

Ague from marshy water 163 

Air and ventilation - 152 

Air, ways in which it becomes impure 158 

Albumen 120 

Alkali poisons - 310 

Aneurism -... 52 

AnimalSj cruelty to . 372 

Antiseptics .. 146 

Appendix . 319 

Apples, baked 346 

Apple jelly 346 

Application, cooling - 329 

Apoplexy . 238 

Areolar tissue - 30 

Artificial respiration 304 

Asiatic cholera 226 

Asparagus, mode of cooking 344 

Asthma - 209 

Asthma in birds... 369 

Attendants for cases of infectious disease. . 320 

Average length of life 1 

Avoidable causes of defective eyes 74 

Bandaging 284 

Bandage for arm 277 

Bandage for the leg 280 

Bandy legs - - 6 

Baths 39 

Baths for birds 367 

Bedsores - 265 

Beef essence - 341 

Beef tea - 340 

Bile, effect on digestion 104 

Bilious fever.. 181 

Birds, diseases of - ?68 

Bites of mad dogs 301 

Bleeding after tooth extraction 28 

Blindness - - 69 

Blisters.. - - 35 

Blood clots. 58 

Blood, composition of - 59 

Blood disks - - 58 

Blood-shot eyes - 76 

Blood, temperature of 59 

Blood, to purify - --- 141 

Blushing - 60 

Boils .. 262 

Bones change with age 4 

Bones, diet to improve 17 

Bones of the body 3 

what they are made of 16 



PAGE. 

Bottles, old 1 330 

Brain, the 86 

Bran poultice , 329 

Breakfast cocoa 335 

Breathing, imitating the natural 304 

Bright's disease 234 

Broken bones, to unite 16 

Broken bones, surgical management of... 301 

Broken legs of birds 372 

Broken neck 12 

Bronchi 41 

Bronchitis.. '. 201 

Bronchitis in cats 354 

Broth, calves' foot 341 

Broth, mutton 341 

Bruises 299 

Bunions 94 

Bunions, inflamed 96 

Burns 295 

Burns of eyelid 77 

Butter-milk 338 

Butter-Scotch 318 

Calves' feet broth 3U 

Canary birds 367 

Cancer 268 

Candy for children 348 

Capillary circulation 57 

Carbolic acid poisoning 309 

Carbolic acid solutionl 325 

Carbolized ointment- 325 

Care after recovery from contagious dis- 
eases 321 

Careofthe eyes 78 

Care of the hair 282 

Careofthe sick. 271 

Careofthe teeth 21 

Carbonaceous food 121 

Carbuncle 263 

Catarrhal fever 172 

Cats 352 

Cautions regarding fomentations.. 3.27 

Cavities of the body SO 

Cellars 150 

Cellular tissue 30 

Charcoal poultice 329 

Chest protector 44 

Chest, wound of 30 

Chicken jelly.... 344 

Chicken-pox _. 194 

Chilblains 97 

Chill, congestive 180 

Chocolate 334 

Choking _ 27 

Cholera 236 

Cholera infantum 225- 

Cholera morbus 224 

Chronic catarrh 211 



374 



Circulation of blood 51 

Classification of poison 308 

Clavicle - 14 

Claws and beak, overgrown 371 

Clothing - - -- 41 

Clothing in relation to food 132 

Clotbingon fire.. 294 

Cocaine.. 314 

Cocoa 325 

Coffee - 333 

Cold feet 97 

Colds 172 

Colic -..- 227 

Collar bone 14 

Composition of blood 59 

Conditions of good health 2 

Congestive chill 180 

Constipation 228 

Constipation in childhood - 112 

Consumption . 212 

Consumption, germs of destroyed 149 

Continued fevers 171 

Convulsions 240 

Cooking, aright and wrong way 115 

Copperas disinfectant 323 

Copper and brass utensils . 316 

Corn coffee 335 

Corns and bunions 94 

Cotton clothing 42 

Creams, chocolate. 349 

Cross-eves .' 70 

Croup 206 

Curds and cream 344 

Curvature of spine.. 15 

Cushions and pads for th-3 eick 284 

Custard 347 

Dandelion salad 315 

Death from coal stove - 156 

Death rate 1 

Decayed teeth, diseases caused by 24 

Decayed teeth in animals 360 

Delirious patients, their care 273 

Deodorizers 146 

Diabetes 235 

Diarrhoea 221 

Diet for consumption 216 

Diet for the sick 276 

Diet in relation to season 132 

Diet modifies disposition - 133 

Diet to renew defective bon^s 17 

Diphtheria 196 

Diseased meat 313 

Diseases of birds 368 

Diseases of dogs 357 

Diseases of the~skin._ 356 

Disinfectants 323 

Disinfectants defined. 146 

Disinfection of clothing 322 

Dislocation of the jaw 7 

Disposal of the dead 321 

Disposal of wastes 137 

Distemper of does 365 

Doctor's instructions to be followed 271 

Dogs and their diseases 357 

Dogsmustbe keptclean 358 

"Don'ts" fornurse8 -- 272 

Doses of medicine 330 

Drainage 161 

Dressing wounds 293 

Drinking water.. 161 

Drinks lor hot weather 135 

Drinks for invalids 333 

Drink, the best for the sick - 278 

Dropsy. - 248 

Drowning 302 

Duties of health officers 321 

Duties of watchers 281 

Duty to dumb animals 372 



Dyspepsia. 218 

Dysenterv 223 

Earache 67 

Ear, and loss of hearing.. 62 

Ear, objects in 67 

Eating at bed-time 110 

Economy in diet _ 124 

Effect of insufficient diet on labor 125 

Effect of muscular exercise 33 

Effect of unsuitable foot covering 92 

Egg mulled in tea or coffee 334 

Eggs, boiled 343 

Eggs, baked 344 

Elements furnished by food 113 

Elements of food 119 

Emetics 307 

Epilepsy 241 

Eruptive fevers 171 

Erysipelas 194 

Eustachian canal 68 

Excretory organs 139 

Experiments showing structure of bone.. 4 

Explosions of coal oil, etc 296 

Eye and ear diseases caused by teeth 23 

Eyes, accidents to 76 

Eyes, inflammation of 80 

Eyestrain 83 

Family pets.. 350 

Fatigue delays digestion 110 

Fat, its uses in the body 128 

Fatty liver 232 

Feedinga feeble patient 277 

Feet, the 92 

Felons 264 

Fever and ague 174 

Fever, bilious 181 

Fever, catarrhal 172 

Fever, congestive intermittent 180 

Fever, intermittent 178 

Fever, remittent 181 

Fever, scarlet 182 

Fevers, varieties of.. 170 

Fibrine 121 

Figs, tomato 347 

Filters 167 

First permanent teeth — 20 

Fits 240 

Fits in cats . 355 

Fits in dogs _ 363 

Flaxseed lemonade 336 

Flaxseed, parched 337 

Flaxseed poultice 328 

Flesh wounds 292 

Flour gruel for diarrhoea. 339 

Foetid feet 98 

Fomentations 326 

Food elements, excess or deficiency of 132 

Food for the sick 275 

Food, influence of, on sobriety 126 

Food, liquid, for the sick ." 337 

Food, proportion of heat and force sup- 
plied by it 128 

Food supplies heat 132 

Force supplied by food 131 

Fracture of ribs. 14 

Fractures 4 

Freckles 259 

Freezing 298 

French filter 168 

Fruit candy 349 

Furniture, disinfection of 149 

Gallstones 232 

G an grene 52 

Garters interfere with circulation 54 

Gas, accidents from. 156 

Gases forming part of food 118 

Gas poisoning 313 

Gastric juice 103 



375 



Gelatine of bones 4 

German measles 188 

Germs, microscopic - 142 

Glass, swallowing of. 299 

Good health 2 

Gratitude of patients 26 

Green stick fracture 4 

Gruel, flour - -- 339 

Gruel, oatmeal --- 340 

Gum boil - 23 

Gunpowder injuries to the eyes 77 

Hair, care of , in sickness 283 

Hanging -------- 3 °6 

Hard labor stunts children 15 

Haskin filter - — - 168 

Headache - 237 

Healing cuts 58 

Health aphorisms - 169 

Health officers, duties of 321 

Health of nurses must be cared for ^ . . 279 

Heart 50 

Heart disease - 246 

Heart, fatty 131 

Heart, rheumatism of.- - 246 

Heat destroys germs - 144 

Hemorrhage after accidents - 288 

Hemorrhage from bowels 177 

Haemorrhage from lungs .. 213 

Haemorrhage from veins and arteries 54 

Hinge joint - 6 

Hints for selecting spectacles 82 

Hip disease -. --- 251 

Hip joint 8 

Hives - 261 

Hob-nail liver - 232 

Honey-comb ring worm 262 

Hop poultice.. - 329 

Housekeeping, knowledge of a necessity.. 113 

Housing of cats 353 

How blood passes from arteries to veins.. 57 

Hunger 105 

Hydrocephalus 10 

Hydrophobia 364 

Ice cream 317 

Iced tea.. . r 333 

Ice, to keep in a sick-room 278 

Illinois State Board of Health Circular... 319 

Impure air 158 

Impure blood.. 137 

Indian meal gruel 340 

Indian meal poultice,. 329 

Influenza 174 

Ingluvin 339 

Ingrowing nails - 96 

Internal ear 65 

Invalid drinks 333 

Irregular teeth may be straightened 23 

Itch 260 

Jam, blackberry 347 

Jam, rhubarb 347 

Jaundice 233 

Jawbone 11 

Jelly, apple 346 

Jelly, chicken 344 

Jellv, rhubarb 346 

Jelly, water 336 

Joints. 6 

Joint water 7 

Kernel of corn in windpipe 48 

King's evil... 249 

Knee joint 8 

Knock-knees 6 

Kumiss 338 

Lamps vitiate air of rooms 151 

Larynx . 46 

Leeches 314 

Lemonade 336 

Lice 260 



Lifting a helpless patient 283 

Lime in the eyes 77 

Lime watr 332 

Linen clothing 42 

Liquid food for the sick.. 337 

Liver, diseases of 231 

Liver, fatty. 232 

Liver, hob-nail 232 

Liver, inflammation of 232 

Lungs 50 

Mad dog bites 301 

Malaria 179 

Mange 362 

Measles 187 

Measles, German.. 188 

Measurement of doses 331 

Meat paste 343 

Medicine, doses of 330 

Medicine, to disguise taste 330 

Mental qualities modified by diet 133 

Mercury destroys teeth 22 

Metal fragments in eyes 76 

Microscopic germs 142 

Middle ear 64 

Milkbath 38 

Milk, composition of.. - 118 

Milk conveys typhoid germs 175 

Milk teeth - 22 

Minerals in the bones - 4 

Mind, influence on disease 60 

Minerals of the body 122 

Mixed diet best for man 117 

Molasses candy, 349 

Moth spots - 259 

Moulting 372 

Mouth-wash for foetid breath 28 

Mullein tea 337 

Mumps 217 

Muscles... 31 

Muscular exercise, effect of 33 

Mushroom poisoning 312 

Mustard paste.. 329 

Mutton broth... - 341 

Nails, ingrowing 96 

Nails of invalids, care of 283 

Near sight — 84 

Neck, how it is broken 12 

Nerves - - 87 

Neuralgia 243 

Neuralgia from unsound teeth 24 

Newspaper reports unreliable 129 

Nurses, their duties and responsibilities. . 270 

Nurses should be careful in speech 285 

Oatmeal gruel - 340 

Oatmeal water 336 

Objects in the ear 67 

Obscure sources of poi soning 315 

Ointment, carbolized. 325 

Ointment for piles 56 

Old bottles 330 

Ophthalmia. .-- 79 

Opiates, evils of 91 

Organs of the bodv.. -. 46 

Organs of locomotion 92 

Overuseof muscles.. 34 

Oyster soup.. - 342 

Oyster stew .'. 342 

Packing, wet.. 328 

Pain.... 89 

Palsy of single groups of muscles 34 

Panada........ 343 

Paralysis. 239 

Paralysis, a symptom 89 

Paralysis from pressure 88 

Parasites 370 

Parched flaxseed 337 

Partially digested milk... 339 

Parts of atooth 19 



376 



Paste, meat 343 

Paste, mustard 329 

Peanut candy 348 

Pepsin ." 125 

Peptonized beef _ 343 

Periodical fever 171 

Permanent set of teeth 20 

Perspiration 39 

Pets, family 350 

Pile ointment 56 

Pile suppositories 56 

Piles 55 

Pimples 256 

Pin-worms 231 

Plain chocolate 334 

Pleurisy 202 

Pneumonia .. 204 

Poisoning 307 

Poisoning from carlessness 316 

Poisoning from copper and brass 316 

Poisoning, obscure cases of 315 

Poisons, mineral 310 

Poisons, vegetable 311 

Pollution of water causes disease 164 

Poppv poultice 329 

Poultices 328 

Poulticing the eye 75 

Potatoes, Saratoga 345 

Precautions in the sick-room.. 319 

Pressure, place to stop bleeding 54 

Prevention of disease l'O 

Purified mutton suet 325 

Purifying the blood 141 

Pustules 257 

Quick consumption 214 

Quinsy 218 

Rashes 256 

Raspberry lemonade 336 

Remittent fever 181 

Rennet 339 

Rheumatism 244 

Rheumatism of the heart. 246 

Rhubarb, compound svmp of 332 

Ribs .;.. 14 

Rickets 2i0 

Rice, boiled 345 

Ringworm 262 

Rottieln 188 

Root aDd herb teas 331 

Rhubarb jam 347 

Rhubarb jelly 346 

Salad, dandelion 345 

Saratoga potatoes _ 345 

Scabies _ 260 

Scalp wounds.. 293 

Scaly eruptions ' 256 

Scapula 14 

Scarlet fever 182 

School children and damp feet 44 

Scrofula 249 

Scrivener's palsy 34 

Scurvy . 125 

Section of skin 36 

Shingles 261 

Shoes, selection of 93 

Shoulder blades 14 

Sick-room, selection of 274 

Sick-room, disinfection of 319 

Side ache 232 

Simple continued fever 172 

Sixth year molar 20 

Skeleton 5 

Skin 35 

Skin, diseases of 235 

Skull 9 

Sleeping rooms, ventilation of 159 

Small-pox 188 

Sobriety favored by good diet 126 



Soft corns 9$ 

Soup, oyster " 342 

Soup salsify 34^ 

Spectacles 80 

Spine _ " u 

Spine, held erect bv muscles 32 

Spine, injured by violent shaking 13 

Spongy gums 2g 

Sprained" knee _ g 

Special directions for treating cases of poi- 
soning 309 

Standard solution of carbolic acid 324 

Starving persons, to restore m 

Stomach _ 101 

Stomach must have exercise 108 

Stomach to wash out 314 

Stoves make air unfit to breath 154 

Structure of the bones 3 

Stupidity due to defective hearing 66 

St. Vitus' dance 23. 

Styes """ 265 

Suet, purified mutton 325 

Sulphur disinfectant 324 

Sunstroke 299 

Suppositories for piles 56 

Surface drainage 162 

Swallowing, method of 100 

Sweat, how thrown off 37 

Syrups 331 

Syrup, compound rhubarb 332 

Table of daily losses 131 

Table of diet 12T 

Table of quantity of food needed 131 

Tainted meat 313 

Tamarind water 336 

Tape-worm. 230 

Tartar 26 

Taste 115 

Tea for invalids 333 

Teas, root and herb 331 

Teeth. 28 

Teeth, causes of decav 22 

Teething 252 

Temperature of the blood 59 

Temporary teeth 23 

Thirst 134 

Thirst of f-ickness 279 

Throatandlung disease 359 

Throat, tight bands around. 43 

Thvinol water 324 

Toast water a35 

Todisguise taste of medicine 330 

Tomato figs 347 

Toothache 22 

Tooth remedies 27 

Tooth powder.. •_ 28 

Tooth soap 28 

Tubercles 258 

Typhoid fever 174 

Ulcerated gums 28 

Ulcers.... - 265 

Valves of the veins 54 

Vapor bath 172 

Varicose veins 266 

Vegetables supply mineral elements 123 

Veins 53 

Ventilation 152 

Vesicular eruptions 258 

Vicarious action of excretory organs 140 

Waist-bands, tight... 109 

Waiting for the doctor 294 

Washing out the stomacn 314 

Wastes must be removed 111 

Watchers... 280 

Water-cress 345 

Water in relation to public health 166 

Waterinthe head 10- 

Water, marshy, effectof 163. 



377 



Water, proportion of , in the body 134 

Water, thymol 324 

Weak muecles injured by over-exertion... 31 

Weeping eye 71 

Weight of brain 66 

Wet packing 327 

White swelling-. 8 

Whooping cough .'. 209 

Window ventilation 153 

Woolen clothing 42 

Work, influenced by diet 126 

Workmginan, food needed by 130 



Worms 229 

Wound in the chest 30 

Wounds, dressing of 293 

Wounds, unhealthy 294 

Wounds, poisoned 313 

Writer's cramp 34 

Wry neck 24 

Yearly death rate 1 

Yeast germs 143 

Yellows 355 

Zinc disinfectant 324 







EILERT'S 

Extract of Tap and Wild CheiTj 

For Coughs, Colds, Hoarseness, Spitting of Blood, 
Bronchitis, Asthma, Influenza, Pleurisy, In- 
flammation of Lungs, Pains in the 
Chest and First Stage of 
Consumption, 

And all Throat and Lung Diseases. 



Five Good Reasons for our Confidence in 

WILD CHERRY TREE. 

EILERT'S EXTRACT OF TAR AND WILD CHERRY. 

1. It is Compounded of Ingredients that are Known, the World over, 
to Exert a Special Beneficial Effect upon the Respiratory Organs. 

2. This Syrup is Prepared in the Most Skillful Manner, by an Expert 
Chemist, so that the Curative Properties of Each Separate Article are Pre- 
served, while all Inert Portions are Carefully Removed; in this way a Medi- 
cine is obtained that Possesses Powerful Remedial Effects in a Palatable 
Form, that is not Objectionable to the most Fastidious Taste. 

3. It is a Purely Vegetable Remedy, and contains no Poison; therefore, 
it is adapted to the Most Delicate Invalid, as well as to those of Robust 
Constitution. 

4. It possesses the Most Remarkable Properties, having Anodyne, Expec- 
torant. Antiseptic and Tonic effects upon different diseased conditions. As an Anodyne 
it allays cough and spasm of the bronchial tubes; this gives it value in croup, asthma and severe 
colds. As an Expectorant it loosens the secretions, and enables the patient to remove obstruc- 
tions from the breathing apparatus, in colds, whooping cough, bronchitis, pneumonia, catarrh, 
etc. As an Antiseptic it is destructive of germ life, and is peculiarly obnoxious to the bacillus 
of consumption. It renders the secretions of the respiratory organs healthy, and unfitted to 
sustain those animal organisms that can survive only in unhealthy mucus. As a Tonic it 
lessens unnatural secretions, and restores the membrane lining of the throat and lungs to a state 
of health; it also improves the circulation of the blood, and renders the system less sensitive to 
the injurious effects of colds. 

5. It has been in constant use for twenty-five years, and although it has not been 
extensively advertised through the papers, yet its sale has steadily increased. Those who 
have used it, and have been benefited or cured, tell their friends and neighbors of the great value 
it is to them and their families; these, in turn, tell others, so that little by little, is has acquired its 
present reputation, which we are proud to believe is based solely upon its merits, and is bound to 
increase as it becomes more widely known, and so long as we shall preserve the standard of 
excellency in its manufacture, which we claim is absolutely essential to its efficiency. 

Q ATX T I ON". 

As a result of our success, worthless imitations of this Valuable Remedy are on 

the market. All purchasers should see that "Prepared and Sold by Emmert Proprietary Co., 
Chicago, 111.," is printed on the bottom of the label. No other is genuine. Without this precau- 
tion valuable lives may be lost by trusting to a compound that contains none of the properties 
which our remedy possesses. 

FOR SALE BY ALL DRUGGISTS. PREPARED ONLY BY 

Emmert Proprietary Co Cbicaco, Dl. 



#Yi wl Wa 




DR. WINCHELL'S 

TEETHING SYRUP 

Is confidently recommended for 

Cholera Infantum, Diarrhoea, Dysen- 
tery, Colic, Nervousness, Summer 
Complaint, Coughs, Colds, Sore 
Throat, Sore Mouth, Acidity of 
Stomach, Convulsions, and all ordi- 
nary diseases of infancy and early 
childhood. 

SAVE TiEIE CHILDREN! 

HEALTHY CHILDREN ARE HAPPY AND GOOD NATURED. 

Fretfulness, Peevishness, Crying, Unwillingness to Play as usual, all indicate 
some disturbance of the nervous system. In childhood, stomach and bowel diseases predominate 
and re-act upon the nervous system, transforming the bright, laughing little one, the joy of the 
home, into a dull, pining, irritable creature, at once a care and a trial to the mother, whose health 
suffers from incessant solicitude over her child. 

DR. WINCHELL'S TEETHING SYRUP 

was a favorite prescription of a celebrated physician, and has been for many years known to 
the public, and is guaranteed to be a safe, reliable and pleasant medicine. It soothes the 
child and quiets the nervous system, enabling it to get quiet rest and peaceful sleep, thus allow- 
ing nature to rally her forces and make the child strong, healthy, cheerful'and happy. 
A fretful child is sick and needs a soothing remedy, not only for the sake of giving rest to the 
tired mother, but to restore the nervous system, which plays so important a part in the ailments of 
childhood. If constantly irritated, it predisposes to Convulsions and Brain Disease, the two 
complaints most fatal in infancy. The large mortality of infancy is due to improper diet, 
poisonous drugs administered as medicine, and debility from neglected disorders. The 
belief that all complaints during the teething period must be endured is a mistaken one, and 
causes the death of thousands of little ones annually. If you have never used DR. WIN- 
CHELL'S TEETHING SYMUP you are doing yourself and children an injury 
by failing to give it a trial at once. 

IIP Beware of the numberless vile cordials, drops, etc., which are flooded over the country,, 
but try Dr. Winchell's Teething Syrup, and you will find it 

JUST THE REMEDY IN TIME OF NEED. 



Distrust all remedies for children that are not, like 

DR. WINCHELL'S TEETHING SYRUP, 

Guaranteed free from opium and all injurious drugs. 



Prepared by the Emmert Proprietary Co , Chicago, 111. 



For Sale by your Druggist. 



Happy Home Blood Purifier \ Health Tonic. 




This invaluable remedy is composed of a variety of the best known medicines, combined to form 
a Blood Purifier and Toxic of unrivaled excellence. Physicians recommend it for 

All Diseases Caused by Impure Blood. 

It is a Purely Vegetable Preparation, possessing alterative, aperient, diuretic and tonit prop- 
erties never before found in the same remedy, and rendering it 

THE MOST EFFECTDAL SYSTEM RENOYATOR EYER DISCOYERED. 

Being pleasant to the taste, children take it without complaint. Free from alcohol, it 
can not develop an appetite for intoxicants. Guaranteed to contain no mer- 
cury or other injurious drugs, it is harmless. Long 

EXPERIENCE HAS PROVED ITS VALUE. 



It Strengthens the Stomach, 
Arouses the torpid Liver, 
Clears the Skin of all Eruptions, 



Renovates the Kidneys, 

Regulates the Bowels, 

Removes all impurities from the System. 



Rheumatism, 

Dyspepsia, 

Indigestion, 

Biliousness, 

Headache, 

Heartburn, 

Jaundice, 

Kidney Disease, 

Eczema, 



IT CUBES 

Pimples, 

Dropsy, 

Tumors, 

Fever and Ague, 

Shin Eruptions, 

Malaria, 

Dumb Ague, 

Neuralgia, 

Lumbago, 



Debility, 

Liver Complaint, 

Erysipelas, 

Haemorrhoids, 

Tetter, 

Dizziness, 

Paralysis, 

Acne, 

Heart Disease. 



A trial will convince the most skeptical that Happy Home Blood Purifier and Health 
Tonic will accomplish all that is claimed for it. It is put up in bottles of two sizes. 

Price, Small Size, 50 Cents. Large Size, $1.00. 

Ask your Druggist for " Home Treatment." A Medical Pamphlet replete with valuable informa- 
tion furnished free. Published by the 

EMMERT PROPRIETARY CO., - - - - CHICAGO, ILL 




UNCLE SAM'S 

HARNESS OIL! 

THE BEST OIL EVER MADE FOR 

Preserving Harness, Carriage 

Tops, Leather Belting, 

Boots, Shoes, Etc. 

The attention of every one owning or using Harness is invited to the merits of this celebrated 
Harness Oil and preparation for oiling leather. The manufacturers are confident they have 
succeeded in making an article that has never had its equal for its beneficial effects, and for 
OILING LEATHER of all kinds, and that fully meets the necessary requirements of good 
Harness Oil— an oil that can be used on the different grades and qualities of leather. Uncle 
Sam's Harness Oil fully meets this want. 

It is prepared from the very best materials and ingredients known for their good effect on 
leather, and it does not fail to give the most complete satisfaction in every instance. 

It will make the oldest leather soft and pliable as when new. 

It will fill up the pores of leather, thus preventing cracking and breaking. 

It will put on a good, durable finish, that will not rub off or soil the hands or what- 
ever conies in contact with it. 

It is water-proof, and will keep leather from rotting. 

It will add strength and durability to the stitches, and, being heavier than clear oil, 
it will last much longer. 

One oiling with this Oil will last longer than three oilings of any other oil. 

Uncle Sam's Harness Oil, on account of its great reputation and good quality, is more 
extensively sold than all oils combined. It is put up in nice tin cans, in half-pint, pint, quart and 
nearly two-quart sizes, with a handsome label, and the patent screw top, which are very convenient 
and always ready for using. 

Sold by all Dealers in Leather, and Harness Makers. 

UNCLE SAM'S HARNESS SOAP, 

for washing off Carriage and Buggy Tops, Dash Leather, and all the finer grades of leather, also 
for sponging off the finer grades of Carriage and Buggy Harness after being used. 

It will not only clean leather, but will also leave a smooth, black finish. 

It will take out and absorb the dirt better than any other soap. It is made from the very 
best materials, and is very beneficial to leather, making it clean, soft, and restoring it to look as 
good as new. 

This soap is far superior to Castile soap for sponging off harness after being oiled, as it 
makes a thicker, heavier and more lasting lather, and leaves a brighter and smoother finish. 

UNCLE SAM'S WATER-PROOF OIL BLACKING. 

This is the only perfect Water- Proof Oil Blacking made for Greasing or Oiling Boots, Shoes and Leather. 

It should be used by every one, because it has a softening, penetrating and pliable effect on 
leather, making the hardest leather as soft and pliable as when new. 

It is made of the very best materials, and is water-proof. 

It strengthens the fibers of leather, and prevents them from breaking, while oil or tallow 
will soften leather, but injure it. 

This blacking will enable the leather to resist intruding substances, such as sand, lime, dust 
and sharp points. ,-,.-. , , 

It takes one-half less for the same surface than any other blacking now in use, and the effect 
produced is much more lasting. 

When used according to directions accompanying each box, it will increase the durability of 
leather one-half. 

The leather will admit of a good polish with polish blacking immediately after using the 
leather preservative. PRICE, LARGE BOXES, 25 CENTS. 

Prepared by EMMERT PROPRIETARY CO., Chicago, 111. 



UNCLE SAM'S NERYE AND BONE LINIMENT 

IFOR, THE FAMILY 
Soothing, Cleansing, Healing. 

It Soothes the Pain of Burns and Frost Bites. 

It Cleanses Ulcers, Sores and Eruptions. 

It Heals Cuts and Open Wounds. 

HN EDMIRHBLG HPPLICHTION 

To Chilblains, Bruises, Cuts, Scalds, Felons, Boils, Carbuncles, Sprains, Pain 

in the Back or Side, Rheumatic Pain, Sore Throat (externally), 

Stiff Joints, Swollen Face, Stiff Neck, Old 

Sores, Eruptions, Chaps, Cracks. 

The Ingredients of -which this Valuable Liniment is compounded are not claimed as new; 
they have been used in various forms as Liniments and Pain Extractors for at least half a century, 
with excellent results. We claim that they have never been compounded in any form which 
approaches to the excellence that Uncle Sam's Xerve and Bone Liniment possesses. The verdict 
of the public is to the same effect, for wherever introduced during the past decade it has 
superseded other preparations for which similar claims were made, and this in virtue of its merits 
as revealed by use, and not by laudatory advertisements, which may serve for a brief period to 
attract attention to a preparation, but cannot establish it in public estimation unless it is really 
what it claims to be. 

FOR ANIMALS. 

This Liniment Possesses the most Penetrating and Healing Properties of »ny Remedy ever Pre- 
pared for Wounds, Stiffness of Joints, Galls, Scratches or Grease, Splints, Spavin, 
Ringbone, Lameness, Swellings, Tumors, and Hurts of Any Kind. 

Horses and other Domestic Animals suffer from Rheumatism and stiffness of 
muscles, as a consequence of colds or abuse, and their value is greatly impaired when a suita- 
ble remedy is not employed to ease pain, or remove lameness or stiffness of muscles. Uncle Sam's 
Nerve and Bone Liniment is the result of practical experiment with those drugs known to 
possess the power of benefiting similar ailments in the human race. That assigned for animals 
contains the same ingredients as that intended for family use. 




Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment 
For Family Fse 



is always put up in a White Wrapper, and should be 
used where a Liniment is needed in a family, as it 




Uncle Sam's Nerve and Bone Liniment 
For Animal Use 

is put up in a dark or buff wrapper, and is the most 
powerful and efficient Liniment ever made foi- the 
does not etain or color the most delicate fabric. It purpose. A single trial cannot fail to convince the 

should be kept in every house. most skeptical of its merits. 

For Collar and Harness Galls, wash the sore parts thoroughly with water and UNCLE 
SAM'S HARNESS SOAP twice a day, and apply the Liniment (after each washing) with the 
hand, rubbing it on the affected parts. If very sore, the Liniment should be applied three or 
four times a day, and the animal may be allowed to rest a few days. 

Tumors and Enlargements of all kinds should be rubbed thoroughly with UNCLE SAM'S 
NERVE AND BONE LINIMENT twice daily. 

Sore Throat. — Bathe the throat with Liniment, and wrap the neck in flannel moistened 
with it. 

Colic— Warm Liniment, applied freely to the belly, helps relieve colic. Liniment is applied 
to animals in the same way as to man, and will be found equally beneficial. 

Every Stock Man, every Horse Man, every Litery Man, every Farmer should keep UNCLE 
SAM'S NERVE AND BONE LINIMENT in the Stable, and ready for use as needed. 
IT HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME, AND IS UNSURPASSED. Price, 25, 50 and $1.00. 

Prepared by the EMMERT PROPRIETARY CO., Chicago, 111. 

FOR SALE BY ALL DRUGGISTS. 



DAYLIGHT LIVER PILLS 

-a- positive cTr:e,E for 

Sick Headache and Dyspepsia, and if taken in time, are 

Guaranteed to Ward off Fevers. 



Other diseases in which they have wrought permanent cures are 

Liver Complaint, Jaundice, Nervousness, Fever, Impurity of the Blood, 

Indisposition, Morbid Inaction of the Bowels, Loss of Appetite, 

Costiveness, Hypochondria, and all Bilious Complaints. 

In using these Pills no particular or special care is necessary. Persons taking them are not 
required to abstain from anything in their usual diet. They are prepared from ingredients 
possessing properties which are most valuable in acting upon the liver and digestive organs, 
purifying the blood, and creating a free and healthy circulation. They are so combined as to 
dissolve readily in the stomach, and are sugar-coated, making them pleasant to take. In small 
doses they act as a laxative and alterative, being mild in their operation ; in large doses they act 
as a brisk cathartic, cleansing the system from poisonous and putrid matter, creating healthy 
secretions of stomach, liver and other organs. 

For dyspepsia and torpidity of the liver they are an invaluable medicine, carrying off the 
vitiated secretions of the liver and stomach. As an alterative, they cleanse the blood, promote a 
healthy action of all the vital forces of the entire body, regenerating anew the energy and 
vitality of youth. 

These Pills are Purgative, Laxative, or Alterative, according to the way they are 
taken, and are the only pills ever prepared which possess these three properties, and are, conse- 
quently, more generally useful than any other remedy designed for similar purposes. 

As a Purgative — they are more thorough and cause less pain than any other medicine. 
They restore the action of the intestinal canal in the most natural manner, so that, unlike other 
pills, they do not need to be continued for years, when a patient once begins using them. 

As a Laxative — they are invaluable in catarrhal and other diseased conditions of the 
bowels. They act mildly, and do not increase irritation. Used in suitable doses to produce this 
effect, they can be depended upon to cure constipation. 

As an Alterative — taken in small and regularly repeated doses, for several weeks in 
succession, they have the most profound and remarkable effect upon the whole system. They 
purify the blood, remove biliousness, unlock the secretions, and are of the greatest value in all 
diseases where the action of the bowels, the liver, the kidneys, or the skin is impaired. 
Eilert's Daylight Liver Pills are Sugar-coated. 

They Act upon the Stomach, the Liver, and whole Intestinal Canal. 

They do not Debilitate the System, nor make constant repetition of dose necessary. 
They do not Produce Pain or Griping, or any Disagreeable Effect. 
They will Certainly Prevent Fever if Taken Early. 

They are Purely Vegetable, and Free from Poisonous Ingredients. 

In brief, they are " Multum in Parvo " as a Household Remedy. 



PREPARED ONLY BY THE 

EMMERT PROPRIETARY CO., - - - Chicago, 111 

YOUR DRUGGIST KEEPS THEM. 



THE CELEBRATED McINTOSH BATTERIES 

Adopted by the United States Government for use in Medical Department of Army and Xavy. 
Awarded the Gold Medal over all foreign and home sonipetitors at the >'ew Orleans Exposition. 




Mcintosh Family Faradic Battery. Price, $10.00. 

The Battery shown in this illustration is designed expressly for family use. It is durable, 
easily kept in order, simple to operate, and very efficient. We manufacture every kind of 
an instrument designed for the application of medical and surgical electricity, including 

BATTERIES AT PRICES VARYING FROM $10.00 TO $400.00. 

ELECTRIC BATH APPARATUS, GALVANIC BATTERIES, FRIC- 

TIOXAL OR STATIC ELECTRICAL MACHINES, 

ELECTRODES, ELECTRIC BELTS, 

And all kinds of Medical and Surgical Electrical Apparatus. 

ALL GOODS OF OUR MANUFACTURE GUARANTEED TO BE FIRST-CLASS. 



The best physicians declare electricity to be indispensable as an aid to treatment of many 
formidable disorders. It has recently been discovered that some tumors previously incurable, 
except by a very dangerous surgical operation, can be safely and perfectly cured by galvanic 
electricity. Other diseases successfully treated by electricity: 

Rheumatism, Neuralgia, Sciatica, Paralysis, Dyspepsia, Nervous Disorders, Swellings, Stiff 

and Inflamed Joints, Sprains, Inflammation, Constipation, Debility, 

Female Diseaso, and many other complaints. 



We furnish FREE with each Mcintosh Family Faradic Battery a Pamphlet of Instruction for 
treating diseases with electricity. The directions in our Pamphlet are plain and simple, so that 
any one of ordinary intelligence can use the battery successfully. For further particulars address 

McINTOSH GALVANIC AND FARADIC BATTERY CO., 

CHICAGO, ILL. 



Uncle Sam's Condition Powders 

For the Prevention and Cure of the Diseases Common to Domestic Animals. 
TESTED BY TIME AND WARRANTED. 

BEST REMEDY FOR J^M* ALWAYS FOUND TO RE 

zeeo^bes. ^0mmm^^^ popular, 

cows, |fjL ' $m 

K jf RELIABLE, 

SHEEP, W&w^vS 

EZOC3-S, ||fe_ | 11 COUVEUIEITT, 

A35TE POTJLTBY. ^ESSSllllp ECOUOMICAL. 

The most prolific source of disease among animals is filth and neglect; sometimes poverty. 
Horses, cattle, sheep and swine in " high condition " attain to such condition by constant care and a 
kindly good feeling and interest on the part of the owner or attendant, and never through neglect, 
or when left to shift for themselves. Access at all times to an abundant supply of clean water 
is of the first importance in stock raising. Many of the diseases that destroy animals originate 
in foul drinking water. Our live stock are not made of cast iron, nor have their digestive organs 
the power of a saw mill. A more generous diet, good water and a few doses of Uncle Sam's 
Condition Powders has restored to health and market value thousands of poor, unsalable animals. 

Thousands of stock owners testify to the great benefits they have derived from the timely 
use of Uncle Sam's Condition Powders when disease has attacked their animals. It is 
equally useful for Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Hogs and Poultry. It invariably gives relief in 

Coughs, Shortness of Breath, Colic, 

Colds, Yellow Water, Bots, 

Lung Fever, Founder, Inflammation of Eyes, 

Heaves, Hide Bound, Impurities of Blood, 

Distemper, Disease of Kidneys, And Worms. 

It never fails to give the utmost satisfaction. It contains none of the mineral poisons so 
objectionable in the old style so-called Condition Powders. 

JVI i Ich COWS have the quantity and quality of milk improved by the occasional use of 
Uncle Sam's Condition Powders in slop or feed. 

Sheep are kept healthy by occasional doses cf these Powders. 

HogS are protected from disease if Uncle Sam's Condition Powders are given three or 
four days in succession, every month or two. 

Poultry thrive when these Powders are mixed with their food. 

Sick Horses are cured. 

CoitS fitting for market may be greatly improved and very much enhanced in value by the 
use of these Powders. 

Old HorseSj almost worn out and apparently worthless, may be renovated and made to 
do a reasonable amount of service by the use of Uncle Sam's Condition Powders. 

Be sure to try UNCLE SAM'S CONDITION POWDERS. Every package is warranted to give- 
satisfaction. Put up in % an d H lb - packages, full weight. Price, 25 and 50 cents per package. 

Prepared by the EMMERT PROPRIETARY CO., Chicago, III. 




Foes to Childhood, 



WORMS! WORMS! WORMS! 



German Worm Cakes 

Destroy Worms and Remove them from the System. 



More than Thirty Diseases which Affect Children Frequently Owe their 
Origin to the Presence of Worms, 

Convulsions, St. Vitus' Dance, Fever, Diarrhoea, Dysentery, 
Epileptic Fits, Catalepsy, Marasmus, Cough, Dys- 
pepsia, Incontinence of Urine, Nervousness. 

There are not less than twenty distinct species of Worms found in the 
human body; no organ is free from a liability to become infested with some species of these 
loathsome parasites. It is the duty of every parent to become familiar with the symptoms which 
point out the presence of worms. 

We were the pioneers in replacing the nauseous and uncertain vermifuges of a generation 
ago with a pleasant-tasting lozenge, which children take eagerly, and which is certain to destroy 
and remove nearly all species of worms without injury to the child. 

Symptoms. — Some two or three of the following symptoms will be found in a particular case; 
it is very rare that all are observed in the same patient. Glassy eyes, palor about the mouth 
and nose, a frequent picking of the nose, coated tongue, foul breath, restlessness during 
sleep; the appetite is sometimes craving and unnatural; sometimes there is complete loss 
of appetite. Grinding the teeth during sleep is a very strong indication of the presence 
of worms. Children lose desire to play, are listless, fretful, waste away, and when the 
nervous system becomes affected, some one of the diseases named above are liable to be 
brought on. There is, in fact, scarcely a complaint from which children suffer that is not liable to 
be induced or greatly aggravated by the presence of worms. Convulsions are most to be dreaded; 
when caused by worms they are liable to appear without noticeable warning, and the child some- 
times dies in the first fit. 

Parents are Cruel who allow their children to suffer from the presence of these pests, and 
are certainly wanting in consideration for the comfort of their little ones. A perfectly safe and 
efficient remedy may be found at all druggists in the form of Dr. Jacques' German Worm Cakes. 
Every box of these celebrated Worm Cakes is warranted to give perfect satisfaction. 

Prepared by the Emmert Proprietary Co., 

CHICAGO, ILL. 






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